OTHER  BOOKS  BY  BISHOP  COOKE 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  CHILDHOOD. 

FREEDOM  OF  THOUGHT  IN  RELIGIOUS  TEACHING. 

THE  HISTORIC  EPISCOPATE. 

HISTORY    OF    THE   f  RITUAL     OF    THE    METHODIST 

EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  WITH  A  COMMENTARY 

ON  ITS  OFFICES. 

THE  INCARNATION  AND  RECENT  CRITICISM. 

JDDICLIL  DECISIONS  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONFERENCE 
OF  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  HIGH  CHURCHMEN. 

REASONS  FOR  A  CHURCH  CREED. 

THE  WINGLESS  HOUR. 


THE   CHURCH  AND 
WORLD  PEACE 


By 
RICHARD  J.   gOOKE 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


THE   ABINGDON   PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


C4 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
RICHARD  J.  COOKE. 


yycy 


TO 
ROBERT  J.  FISHER 

WHOSE  HUMAN  SYMPATHIES  NEVER  FAIL; 

WHOSE  INTERESTS  IN  THE   KINGDOM 

NEVER   FLAG,    THESE   PAGES    ARE 

AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED. 


ST  O  ^rv  a-k,  >v 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/churchworldpeaceOOcookrich 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAG* 

Preface 9 

I.    Demand  for  a  League  of  Nations..     13 
II.    Is  A  League  of  Nations  Possible?..     27 

III.  Is  a  League  of  Nations  Possible? 

— Continued 46 

IV.  Political  Difficulties 63 

V.    Need  for  Christian  League 76 

VI.  States  Need  the  Church 84 

VII.  The  Mission  of  Israel 99 

VIII.  The  Historical  Mission  of  Jesus  . .   116 

IX.  The  Duty  of  the  Modern  Church.  130 

X.  The  Future 165 


PEEFACE 

Many  books  and  pamphlets  have  been  writ- 
ten on  the  League  of  Nations:  those  by  Earl 
Grey,  British  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
during  the  war,  and  Mathias  Erzberger,  at 
that  time  member  of  the  Keichstag,  being  the 
most  important,  but  no  work,  so  far  as  I  could 
find,  has  been  published  on  the  relations  of 
the  church  to  the  purposes  of  the  League. 

The  question,  however,  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. No  one  who  appreciates  the  diffi- 
cult problems,  complex  and  distracting  in 
variety,  character  and  scope,  confronting  gov- 
ernments in  Europe,  will  fail  to  apprehend  the 
significance  of  the  subject.  In  England,  since 
this  work  was  begun,  a  notable  conference  of 
the  representatives  of  all  churches,  Anglican 
and  Nonconformist,  was  held,  and  another  is 
to  be  called  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
to  discuss  ways  and  means  by  which  the 
churches  might  cooperate  with  the  government 
to  make  the  League  effective  in  bringing  peace 
to  the  world. 

9 


PREFACE 

It  is  a  difficult  theme  to  handle.  Those  who 
are  alive  to  the  crisscross  currents  of  thought 
running  at  this  time  in  every  land,  each  chang- 
ing its  course  as  new  factors  emerge  in  the 
swirling  seas,  will  appreciate  the  difficulty  of 
reaching  final  and  satisfactory  conclusions. 
It  is  not  easy  to  write  history  while  it  is  in  the 
making,  nor  very  wise  to  forecast  conclusions 
which  may  have  no  premise. 

However,  there  are  certain  fixed  facts,  and 
starting  from  these  I  have  endeavored  to  out- 
line in  a  brief,  but  perhaps  sufficiently  com- 
prehensive manner,  the  imperative  duty  of 
the  universal  church  to  the  Allied  powers  in 
their  efforts  to  establish  perpetual  peace. 
Others  who  may  have  more  time  than  I  have 
may  go  further  into  the  many  questions  sug- 
gested in  almost  every  chapter,  especially  the 
particular,  energetic  influence  which  certain 
churches  might  exert  among  the  peoples  in 
various  countries — ithe  Roman  Catholics  in 
Bavaria  and  other  South  German  States,  in 
France,  in  Italy;  the  Church  of  England 
through  the  Holy  Synod  upon  the  adherents 
of  the  Russian  Church,  and  also  upon  those  of 
the  Greek  Orthodox  Communion;  the  Baptist 
Church  in  the  United  States  upon  large  masses 
in  Russian  dissent,  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

10 


PREFACE 

Church  upon  numerous  and  influential  constit- 
uencies in  various  European  countries,  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Bulgaria  and  Asia 
Minor.  To  have  taken  up  each  of  these 
churches  and  discussed  their  relations  to  the 
people,  the  churches  and  the  governments  in 
Europe,  and  the  assistance  they  might  be  able 
to  give  the  League  of  Nations,  would  have  led 
me  far  beyond  my  original  intention.  What 
is  here  presented  may  be  accepted,  it  is  hoped, 
as  an  introduction,  at  least,  to  one  of  the  most 
important  questions  of  our  day,  a  question 
which  will  grow  larger  in  world-wide  interest 
as  the  League  of  Nations  is  seen  to  become 
either  a  saving  power  or  a  melancholy  failure 
in  the  binding  of  the  nations  in  universal 
brotherhood. 

I  wish  to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  the 
publishers  of  the  Methodist  Review,  New 
York,  for  their  permission  to  use  some  extracts 
from  articles  by  the  writer  during  the  war  in 
that  Review,  and  also  the  kind  services  of  the 
Book  Editor  in  his  careful  reading  of  the  proof- 
sheets. 

R.  J.  C. 


11 


CHAPTER  I 
DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

The  world  war  is  over.  The  legacy  of  war 
remains.  The  whirlwind  of  death  which  left 
nothing  it  could  destroy  is  passed,  but  ex- 
hausted nations  look  with  horror  on  the 
destruction  wrought  and  turn  with  nerveless 
hands  to  the  work  of  restoration.  Has  the 
war  paid?  That  depends.  If  the  transform- 
ing ideals  which  inspired  the  will  to  conquer 
shall  fade  away,  if  the  determination  to  rid 
the  world  of  evil  heritages  and  to  give  it  a 
new  start  in  freedom  shall  be  swallowed  up 
in  the  maws  of  selfish  interests;  if,  after  all 
that  has  been  done,  nothing  is  left,  after  a 
while,  but  the  same  old  world  of  international 
strife,  a  world  of  stark-naked  materialism  in 
which  ancient  wrongs,  forgetfulness  of  God, 
and  deification  of  the  Strong,  shall  again  blur 
justice  and  the  sense  of  human  brotherhood, 
then  the  war  has  not  paid. 

But  if  out  of  this  twilight  of  yesterday  a 
new  world  shall  arise  in  which  men  shall  have 

13 


\  .TH^  OHURea  AKD  WORLD  PEACE 

a  fair  chance  to  live  their  lives  self-governed, 
sunlit,  God-centered,  then  the  war  has  paid. 
It  has  paid,  because  there  can  be  no  question 
that  the  spiritual  is  more  than  the  material; 
that  freedom  of  the  individual  and  the  liberty 
of  small  states,  as  of  great  states,  to  develop 
their  own  racial  spirit  is  worth  more  to  human- 
ity than  the  supremacy  of  gross  conceptions  of 
state-might,  of  "scientific  efficiency,"  mechan- 
ical, dry,  and  hard,  which  a  false  culture, 
nurtured  by  a  materialistic  philosophy,  would 
impose  upon  the  souls  of  men.  If  victory  of 
right  over  sheer  might  is  worth  anything  at 
all,  there  can  be  no  debate  as  to  whether  the 
war  has  paid  or  not. 

The  struggle  for  equity  has  given  the  world 
a  mighty  push  forward ;  and  if  war  can  be  out- 
lawed in  human  thought,  the  world  will  never 
go  back.  Humanity  has  been  lifted  to  a  higher 
plane  of  evolution,  and,  however  poorly  prac- 
ticed as  yet  while  the  world  is  finding  itself, 
ideals  of  justice  and  opportunity  have  been 
substituted  for  the  jungle  cries  of  class 
struggle  and  race  hatred.  Nor  is  there  shadow 
of  doubt,  notwithstanding  apparent  reaction 
since  the  war,  of  the  heightening  of  spiritual 
values  which  the  war  has  brought  to  men  every- 
where. When  men  once  get  a  glimpse  of  God 

14 


DEMAND  FOE  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

they  are  never  the  same  again.  The  immensity 
of  the  conflict,  its  appalling  revelation  of  evil 
springing  up  from  the  heart  of  the  world,  the 
latent  savagery  and  progressive  diabolism 
which  the  bloody  struggle  evoked,  and  the 
terrible  mystery  which  hung  over  it  all  as  to  its 
purpose  in  the  scheme  of  things,  have  awak- 
ened the  souls  of  men  as  if  from  a  dream  to  the 
reality  of  God,  to  the  need  of  a  supernatural 
power  to  control  the  forces  which  the  iniquity 
of  man  had  turned  loose  in  what  was  once 
God's  world,  but  just  then  seemed  crashing 
down  to  chaos. 

Nevertheless,  the  law  which  seems  to  dom- 
inate in  the  world  of  the  spirit  that  there  is 
no  salvation  without  sacrifice,  has  exacted 
from  humanity  a  staggering  price,  and  not- 
withstanding all  the  benefits  that  may  have 
come  to  the  world  from  this  struggle,  if  war 
is  to  continue,  the  question  still  remains,  Has 
the  war  paid? 

The  loss  to  civilization  is  incalculable. 
Civilization  itself  is  of  slow  growth.  A  nation 
may  be  lifted  out  of  barbarism  in  a  few  hun- 
dred years,  but  it  may  take  a  thousand  years 
to  get  barbarism  out  of  a  people,  since  develop- 
ment is  gradual  and  difficult,  while  relapse  is 
swift  and  easy. 

16 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Human  progress  depends  upon  diffusion  of 
knowledge  and  obedience  to  moral  law.  Such 
is  the  nature  of  the  human  spirit  that  no 
nation  ever  did,  or  ever  can,  live  devoid  of 
morality  or  religion,  and  what  it  cannot  live 
without  it  cannot  progress  without. 

It  is  evident  that  the  greater  the  number  of 
educated  men  in  any  period,  men  who  to  pre- 
viously acquired  knowledge  add  new  discov- 
eries and  popularize  philosophical,  political, 
and  religious  truth  among  the  masses,  the 
more  highly  developed  will  be  the  civilization 
of  that  period.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  other 
than  an  immeasurable  moral  loss  to  civiliza- 
tion when  men  of  intellect — scientists,  in- 
ventors, promising  buds  of  genius  in  literature 
and  the  fine  arts — are  cut  off  at  the  beginning 
of  their  careers,  and  all  that  they  might  have 
been  to  the  world  perishes  with  them.  The 
hoped-for  results  of  their  study  and  research 
remain  among  the  shadows  of  things  that 
might  have  been,  but  never  were.  Such  losses 
are  irreparable.  Cities  may  be  destroyed  and 
built  again.  War  may  devastate  regions  of 
fruitful  country  and  destroy  innumerable  in- 
dustries, and  time,  which  heals  all  wounds, 
will  restore  both;  but  when  masses  of  intel- 
lectuals, leaders  in  thought  and  social  develop- 

16 


DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

ment,  are  wiped  out,  that  loss  never  can  be  re- 
gained. 

And  it  is  just  this  that  this  war  has  done. 
In  every  land  seats  of  learning,  colleges  and 
universities,  sent  their  instructors  and  stu- 
dents with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  country  to 
the  battlefield,  and  thousands  of  scholars, 
scientists,  workers  in  every  realm  of  intel- 
lectual activity,  laid  down  their  lives  in  every 
part  of  the  world.  For  this  war  embraced 
humanity.  It  extended  to  the  remotest 
bounds  of  civilization  and  drained  the  man- 
power of  every  land.  What  Lord  Macaulay 
wrote  of  Frederick  the  Great  of  Prussia,  "In 
order  that  he  might  rob  a  neighbor  whom  he 
promised  to  defend,  black  men  fought  on  the 
coast  of  Coromandel,  and  red  men  scalped 
each  other  by  the  Great  Lakes  of  North 
America,"  is  literally  true  of  his  descendant 
William  II,  the  Calamity  of  Germany.  In 
order  that  he  might  obtain  imperial  ascen- 
dency over  his  neighbors,  the  fields  of  France 
and  Flanders  were  drenched  with  the  best 
blood  of  Europe,  an  infidel  race  massacred 
Christian  peoples  in  the  vilayets  and  moun- 
tains of  Armenia,  English  slaughtered  Ger- 
man in  the  Jungles  of  Africa,  and  semicivil- 
ized  tribes  who  never  heard  of  Pan-German- 

17 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

ism  destroyed  each  other  in  the  isles  of  the 
Pacific.  60,000,000  men  participated  in  the 
war.  Of  this  number  7,000,000  are  dead  and 
nearly  6,000,000  are  crippled  for  life. 

The  material  losses  are  beyond  computation. 
Northern  France  is  a  desert.  From  the 
Vosges  to  the  North  Sea,  in  a  country  about 
five  hundred  miles  long  and  comprising  some 
six  thousand  square  miles,  the  besom  of 
destruction  has  done  its  work.  Before  the 
war  this  territory  was  supporting  a  popula- 
tion of  two  million,  and  these  were  among  the 
most  prosperous  in  all  Europe.  Its  varied 
industries,  its  rich  mines  of  coal  and  iron, 
its  agriculture,  producing  in  1913  nearly 
?400,000,000  worth  of  crops,  constituted  for 
the  largest  part  the  economic  life  of  France. 
Now  all  is  gone.  This  once  fruitful  region  is 
a  Sahara.  The  land  is  ripped  and  torn ;  towns, 
villages,  and  cities  are  reduced  to  dust  and 
piles  of  ashes;  dwellings,  factories,  public 
buildings,  schools,  churches,  cathedrals,  monu- 
ments, pious  memorials  of  ancient  days,  all 
are  gone.  Here  and  there  a  broken  arch  or  a 
crumbling  wall,  gaunt  skeletons  of  the  past, 
indicate  where  once  civilization  stood. 

Over  one  million  two  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  timber  land  have  been  destroyed.    The 

18 


DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

Germans,  inflamed  by  the  rankest  hatred  and 
envy  of  the  prosperity  of  France,  sought  not 
only  to  defeat  her  armies  in  the  field,  if  that 
were  possible,  but  by  destroying  her  arts,  her 
industries  and  agriculture,  her  mines  of  coal 
and  iron  ore,  endeavored  to  bury  the  knife  so 
deep  into  the  very  vitals  of  her  industries  that 
she  could  never  again  recover  from  the  blow. 
In  the  coal  fields  more  than  $500,000,000 
worth  of  machinery,  including  mills,  has  been 
destroyed.  Some  of  the  mines  have  been  so 
badly  damaged  with  the  deliberate  purpose  of 
preventing  industrial  resurrection  that  it  will 
require  ten  years  of  labor  to  put  them  in  work- 
able condition.  The  iron  ore  regions  have 
suffered  the  loss  of  millions.  In  the  textile 
industry  machinery  worth  over  $120,000,000 
has  been  destroyed.  Of  the  sugar  refineries  of 
France,  seventeen  out  of  two  hundred  and  ten 
remain.  Two  thousand  brush  factories  out  of 
three  thousand  were  shot  to  dust.  Electric 
power  stations  valued  with  equipment  at 
$50,000,000  were  ruined,  and  in  machine  shops 
and  foundries  machinery  worth  $160,000,000 
was  either  taken  away  into  Germany  or 
smashed  with  hammers,  as  photographs  of  the 
Germans  at  the  heroic  business  show.  The 
official  documents  in  Current  History,  March, 

19 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

1919,  page  516,  from  which  these  figures  are 
taken,  sum  up  the  total  damage  in  the  North 
of  France  including  buildings,  agriculture,  in- 
dustry, furniture,  and  public  works,  as 
amounting  to  $13,000,000,000. 

Belgium  is  a  cemetery.  Her  industrial 
centers  are  destroyed.  In  every  manufactur- 
ing town,  city,  and  village  what  the  Germans 
could  not  cart  away  into  Germany,  from  an 
iron  door  knob,  or  a  copper  kettle,  to  the  most 
valuable  machinery  in  every  trade,  her  agents 
of  Kultur  maliciously  destroyed.  This  was 
not  the  wanton  destruction  of  vandals  who 
destroy  from  an  impulse  of  savagery,  but,  as 
in  France,  a  deliberate  purpose  to  annihilate 
the  industrial  life  of  the  people.  Millions  will 
be  necessary  to  restore  to  Belgium  the  means 
of  production.  So  vast  is  the  loss  caused  by 
the  war  in  the  destruction  of  industries  in 
Russia,  Roumania,  Serbia,  Poland,  in  every 
nation  invaded  by  Germany  and  her  Allies, 
that  to  the  human  mind  totals  in  figures  mean 
nothing.  But  leaving  out  all  such  losses,  and 
all  losses  occurring  from  the  destruction  of 
cities  and  towns  and  communes,  and  taking 
account  only  of  the  expenditures  of  the 
warring  nations  which  went  up  mostly  in 
smoke,  the  sum  total,  according  to  Secretary 

20 


DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

of  War  Baker,  March  3,  1919,  amounted  to 
1197,000,000,000;  that  is  about  $11,000,000,000 
more  than  all  the  wealth  accumulated  here 
since  Columbus  discovered  America. 

Realizing  as  the  world  never  has  before  the 
horrors  of  war,  the  suffering  of  innocent 
peoples — ^women  and  children — and  the  loss 
of  all  that  the  toil  of  ages  has  produced,  the 
question  which  the  people  in  every  nation 
must  now  decide  is.  Shall  war  he  continued,  or 
shall  it  he  abolished  forever? 

That  it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to  abolish  war 
cannot  be  denied.  Have  the  nations  the  will? 
From  the  dawn  of  history  the  world  has  had 
war;  nevertheless,  world  peace  has  been  the 
dream  of  ages.  Statesmen,  philosophers, 
bishops  of  the  church,  and  even  kings  and 
emperors,  as  Henry  IV  of  France  and  Alex- 
ander I  of  Russia,  have  employed  their  talents 
and  exerted  their  influence  for  its  realization. 
Henry  IV,  or  his  prime  minister,  Rosney,  the 
Duke  of  Sully,  proposed  to  unite  all  European 
states  and  kingdoms  into  one  grand  confeder- 
ation with  a  Supreme  Court  to  arbitrate  con- 
troversies. Grotius  (1583-1645)  enunciated 
the  principles  of  international  law  and  laid 
therewith  the  foundations  of  universal  peace. 
Later,  following  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  the 

21 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

French  Abbe,  Saint  Pierre,  projected  a  plan 
on  similar  lines.  The  great  Powers  were  to 
form  an  alliance  and  by  means  of  a  court,  com- 
posed of  judges  from  all  the  states,  to  settle  all 
disputes  between  the  nations.  Other  pub- 
licists, Comenius,  Puffendorf,  Temple,  Mon- 
tesquieu (1689-1755),  Turgot,  French  minister 
of  finance  (1727-1781),  and  the  German  philos- 
opher Immanuel  Kant,  in  his  essay  on  "Per- 
petual Peace"  (1784),  contributed  to  the  uni- 
versal desire  of  the  nations  impoverished  by 
wars  to  which  there  seemed  no  end.  It  was 
hoped  that  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  1815, 
through  the  influence  of  the  Russian  Czar, 
Alexander  I,  who  endeavored  to  form  a  Holy 
Alliance,  would  inaugurate  an  era  of  peace, 
but  the  selfishness  of  Prussia,  the  rivalry  of 
petty  kingdoms,  and  the  chicanery  of  diplo- 
mats like  Metternich  and  Talleyrand,  whose 
greatest  service  to  the  world  was  their  leaving 
it,  frustrated  the  efforts  of  the  Russian  em- 
peror, and  the  Congress  that  it  was  hoped 
would  usher  in  a  millennium  of  peace  ended  in 
disappointment  and  sowed  the  seed  of  future 
wars. 

Thus  it  has  always  been.  After  every  great 
war  reaction,  following  a  general  law,  sets  in, 
and  the  desire  for  peace  gives  rise  to  peace  con- 


DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

gresses.  But  every  peace  congress,  beginning 
with  that  of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  at  the 
close  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  (1618-1648), 
the  Quadruple  Alliance  of  November,  1815; 
the  Diplomatic  Congresses  of  Aix-le-Cha- 
pelle,  in  1818 ;  of  Troppau,  in  1820 ;  of  Laibach, 
1821;  of  Verona,  in  1822;  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence of  Paris,  1856;  the  Congress  of  Berlin, 
1878;  the  Hague  Congress  of  1899 ;  the  London 
Conference  of  1908 — every  one  of  them  for  the 
past  three  hundred  years  has  resulted  in 
failure. 

Nevertheless,  like  the  hope  of  immortality, 
which  asserts  itself  despite  all  doubts,  the 
desire  for  perpetual  peace  still  persists  despite 
all  failures.  Statesmen  and  leaders  of  public 
affairs  and  of  the  largest  thinking  in  every 
nation,  believe  that  peace  is  possible — that 
peace,  and  not  war,  is  the  natural  condition  of 
human  happiness. 

In  the  United  States  the  governors  of  States, 
heads  of  industries,  and  political  and  ecclesi- 
astical conventions  have  declared  in  favor  of  a 
League  of  Nations.  In  the  United  States  the 
senators  who  have  shown  the  most  critical 
hostility  to  the  proposed  plan  of  the  League  as 
presented  by  President  Wilson,  are  neverthe- 
less in  favor  of  a  League  that  will  insure  peace, 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

without  unnecessarily  involving  the  United 
States  in  European  conflicts  should  such  arise. 
Political  parties  favor  such  a  League.  The 
Republican  State  Convention,  held  at  Sara- 
toga on  July  19,  1918,  adopted  a  platform 
which  declared : 

We  favor  the  immediate  creation  by  the  United  States 
and  its  Allies  of  a  League  of  Nations  to  establish,  from 
time  to  time  to  modify,  and  to  enforce  the  rules  of 
international  law  and  conduct.  The  purpose  of  this 
League  should  be  not  to  displace  patriotism  or  devotion 
and  loyalty  to  national  ideals  and  traditions,  but,  rather, 
to  give  to  these  new  opportunities  of  expression  in  co- 
operation with  the  other  liberty-loving  nations  of  the 
world.  To  membership  in  the  League  any  nation  might 
be  admitted  that  possesses  a  responsible  government 
which  will  abide  by  the  rules  of  law  and  equity,  and 
by  those  principles  of  international  justice  and  morality 
which  are  accepted  by  civilized  people. 

The  Democratic  Platform  of  1916  declared : 

We  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  use 
its  power  not  only  to  make  itself  safe  at  home,  but  also 
to  make  secure  its  just  interests  throughout  the  world; 
and  both  for  this  end  and  in  the  interest  of  humanity, 
to  assist  the  world  in  securing  settled  peace  and  Justice. 

Thus  a  new  attempt  to  bind  the  nations  of 
the  earth  in  concord  and  amity  is  now  engag- 
ing as  never  before  in  human  history  the  earn- 
est endeavors  of  statesmen  in  all  countries. 


24 


DEMAND  FOR  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

On  May  27,  1916,  President  Wilson  said : 

The  repeated  utterances  of  the  leading  statesmen  of 
most  of  the  great  nations  now  engaged  in  war  have 
made  it  plain  that  their  thought  has  come  to  this — that 
the  principle  of  public  right  must  henceforth  take  pre- 
cedence over  the  individual  interest  of  particular  na- 
tions, and  that  the  nations  of  the  world  must  in  some 
way  band  themselves  together  to  see  that  right  prevails 
as  against  any  sort  of  selfish  aggression;  that  henceforth 
alliance  must  not  be  set  up  against  alliance,  under- 
standing against  understanding,  but  that  there  must 
be  a  common  agreement  for  a  common  object,  and  that 
at  the  heart  of  that  common  object  must  lie  the  in- 
violable rights  of  peoples  ajid  of  mankind.  ...  Bo 
sincerely  do  we  believe  in  these  things  that  I  am  sure 
I  speak  the  mind  and  wish  of  the  people  of  America 
when  I  say  that  the  United  States  is  willing  to  become 
a  partner  in  any  feasible  association  formed  in  order 
to  realize  these  objects,  and  to  make  them  sure  against 
violation. 


On  August  3,  1918,  former  Prime  Minister 

Asquith  said  in  England^s  Parliament : 

The  great  mass  of  thoughtful  opinion  in  Europe,  as  in 
America,  is  now  convinced  that  we  shall  have  fought 
in  vain  unless  before  we  lay  down  our  arms  we  have 
achieved  at  least  the  beginning  of  a  great  international 
partnership  to  be  built  upon  the  lines  of  a  practical 
policy  for  establishing  and  enforcing  the  world-wide 
reign  of  justice  and  for  making  wars  to  cease  to  the  end 
of  the  earth. 

It  must  be  evident  then  to  every  patriotic 
American,  and  especially   to  the  Christian 

25 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Church  as  a  vital  force  in  the  life  of  the  world, 
and  as  the  only  exponent  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  that  such  a  movement  pro- 
jected by  leaders  of  political  thought  is  en- 
titled to  the  most  earnest  and  sympathetic 
consideration. 


26 


CHAPTER  II 
IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

In  view  of  the  difficulties  in  gaining  uni- 
versal acceptance  of  this  proposed  League,  not 
to  mention  the  compulsory  signing  of  it  in 
principle  by  Germany,  Austria,  Hungary, 
Turkey,  and  Bulgaria,  no  more  serious  ques- 
tions can  engage  the  thought  of  our  time  than 
these:  1.  Is  any  League  of  Nations  that  can 
be  relied  upon  practically  possible?  2.  Can 
this  League  be  made  permanent  without  the 
aid  of  the  Church  universal? 

These  are  fundamental  questions.  In  the 
nature  of  things,  such  questions  command 
attention;  for  if  in  the  constitution  of  nature 
and  the  imperative  demands  of  human  exist- 
ence a  League  of  Nations  is  impracticable, 
then  this  League,  like  previous  attempts,  is 
doomed  to  failure. 

Consider  then :  Is  a  League  of  Nations  pos- 
sible?   Advocates  of  militarism,  many  experi- 

27 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

enced  diplomats,  and  portions  of  the  press  in 
various  countries,  contend  that  such  a  League 
is  neither  possible  nor  desirable.  It  is  not 
possible,  they  declare,  for  the  reason  that  no 
League  can  maintain  its  coherency  because  of 
the  necessarily  conflicting  interests  of  the 
several  units  entering  into  its  composition. 
The  economic  interests  of  the  governments 
composing  the  League  are  not  identical,  nor 
can  they  remain  in  status  quo.  Each  state 
differs  from  another  state  in  natural  re- 
sources, in  manufacturing  skill,  and  access  to 
markets,  and  must  differ  in  the  future.  States 
grow.  No  state  can  wait  for  the  economic, 
social,  or  political  development  of  another. 
And  it  is  just  here,  in  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, that  national  interests  clash,  and  dec- 
adence or  war  becomes  the  forced  alternative 
of  the  weaker  nation. 

Further,  apart  from  the  foregoing,  after 
the  experience  which  the  world  has  had  with 
Germany  in  her  disregard  for  treaties,  her 
contempt  for  international  law,  her  subtlety 
in  diplomacy,  her  willingness  to  be  deceived  if 
the  certainty  of  victory  is  assured,  and  her 
shifting  of  responsibility  should  her  ambitions 
be  defeated,  could  the  governments  of  the 
Entente  hope  to  maintain  the  solidarity  of  a 

2S 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

League  in  which  there  will  be  sixty  or  seventy 
nations,  if  unregenerated  Germany  becomes  a 
member  of  the  League?  What  will  happen  if 
she  does  not?  Could  the  nations  trust  such  a 
people  in  a  League  to  enforce  peace,  which 
means  that  they  shall  be  compelled  to  re- 
nounce forever  the  political  insanities  which 
her  statesmen  and  writers  now  cherish?  Will 
the  German  people,  as  a  whole,  be  content  with 
the  economic  state  which  their  follies  and  the 
verdict  of  the  war  they  desired  have  forced 
upon  them?  Would  not  the  forced  signers  of 
the  League  Covenant — Germany,  Bulgaria, 
Turkey,  and  the  remnant  of  Austria — be  dis- 
integrating elements  in  a  League  which  pre- 
vents their  resurrection  to  former  power? 

On  the  side  of  the  militarists  it  is  declared 
that,  if  a  league  were  possible,  it  would  not  be 
desirable,  for  the  reason  that  war  saves  great 
states  from  all  those  ills  that  corrupt  the  life 
of  states  enervated  by  peace.  In  his  Politics, 
Chapter  XXVIII,  the  historian  Treitschke 
affirms  also  that  war  is  a  necessity  to  any  first- 
class  power.  "We  have  already  seen,"  he 
writes,  "that  war  is  both  justifiable  and  moral, 
and  that  the  ideal  of  perpetual  peace  is  not 
only  impossible  but  immoral  as  well.  .  .  .  The 
mere  fact  of  the  existence  of  many  states  in- 

29 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

volves  the  necessity  of  war."  "The  dream  of 
eternal  peace,"  said  Frederick  the  Great,  "is  a 
phantom  which  each  man  rejects  when  the  call 
of  war  rings  in  his  own  ears."  Treating  of 
the  constructive  forces  in  the  building  of  the 
state,  he  says:  "We  learn  from  history  that 
nothing  knits  a  nation  more  closely  together 
than  war.  It  makes  it  worthy  of  the  name  of 
nation  as  nothing  else  can."  And  of  war  it- 
self he  declares,  "Without  war  no  state  could 
be.  All  those  we  know  arose  through  war, 
and  the  protection  of  their  members  by  armed 
force  remains  their  primary  and  essential  task. 
War,  therefore,  will  endure  to  the  end  of 
history  as  long  as  there  is  a  multiplicity  of 
states.  The  laws  of  human  thought  and  of 
human  nature  forbid  any  alternative,  neither 
is  one  to  be  wished.  The  blind  worshiper  of 
eternal  peace  falls  into  the  error  of  isolating 
the  state,  or  dreams  of  one  which  is  universal, 
which  we  have  already  seen  to  be  at  variance 
with  reason." 

But  even  if  a  League  of  Nations  were  both 
possible  and  desirable,  how  can  the  decisions 
of  such  a  League  become  enforced  upon  a 
nation  that  felt  itself  unjustly  treated  and 
was  strong  enough  to  reject  the  decrees  of  the 
League,  without  producing  war?    On  August 

30 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

8,  1918,  in  the  House  of  Commons  Premier 
Lloyd  George  said : 

I  am  a  believer  in  a  League  of  Nations,  but  its  suc- 
cess must  depend  on  the  conditions  under  which,  it  is 
set  up.  The  people  who  made  the  war  still  are  there 
in  Germany,  and  they  cannot  have  peace  as  long  as 
they  predominate  in  the  councils  of  the  enemy. 

It  might  conceivably  happen  that  the  Germans,  by 
actions  rather  than  words,  might  insist  that  they  have 
suffered  not  a  military  but  an  economic  defeat.  But 
next  year  they  would  take  care  that  they  would  not  be 
short  Every  time  you  came  to  a  conference  with  the 
intention  of  reaching  a  decision  the  Prussian  sword 
would  clank  on  the  council  table.  What  is  the  good 
undertaking  peace  negotiations  under  these  conditions? 

There  must  be  power  behind  a  League  of  Nations  to 
enforce  its  decrees.  We  all  want  peace,  but  it  must  be 
just,  durable,  and  moral.  There  must  be  power  behind 
that  justice  which  would  enforce  its  decisions,  and  all 
who  enter  the  conference  must  know  that.  When  we 
have  demonstrated  to  the  enemy  that  such  a  power 
exists  peace  will  come,  but  not  any  sooner. 

History  is  ever  in  flux.  All  treaties  and 
agreements  between  states  are  therefore  con- 
ditional, they  are  entered  into  rebus  sic  stanti- 
hus,  since  no  nation  can  bind  itself  eternally 
to  a  treaty  that  might  limit  its  sovereignty 
which  it  cannot  renounce,  and  which  it  may  be 
wholly  at  variance  with  under  changed  po- 
litical conditions.  "No  courts  of  arbitration," 
again  says  Treitschke,  who  as  a  historian  fur- 

31 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

nishes  the  arguments  for  those  who  oppose  all 
leagues  for  world  peace,  "will  ever  succeed 
in  banishing  war  from  the  world.  It  is  utterly 
impossible  for  other  members  of  the  group  of 
nations  to  take  an  impartial  view  of  any  ques- 
tion vitally  affecting  one  of  their  number. 
Parties  there  must  be,  if  only  because  the  na- 
tions are  bound  together,  or  driven  apart  by 
living  interests  of  the  most  various  kinds." 
"International  congresses  are  quite  capable  of 
finding  legal  formula  for  the  results  of  a  war, 
but  they  can  never  avert  the  outbreak  of  it" 
(Politics,  Vol.  II.,  p.  598). 

It  need  not  be  contended  that  this  eminent 
writer  is  wholly  wrong,  or  that  he  could  not 
draw  from  modern  history  numerous  instances 
to  illustrate  or  establish  his  conclusions.  The 
defect  in  his  philosophy,  however,  is  that  he 
makes  no  allowance  for  moral  progress.  The 
idea  of  a  world-conscience,  or  the  development 
of  an  international  mind,  never  seems  to  have 
entered  his  head.  Like  all  other  defenders 
of  war,  he  is  immovably  fixed  in  the  convic- 
tion of  the  immutability  of  human  nature, 
and  therefore  assumes  that  what  has  been 
will  be. 

But  it  is  nevertheless  just  toward  this  inter- 
national mind,  despite  all  that  may  be  said 

32 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

concerning  the  unchangeableness  of  human 
nature,  that  evolution  is  slowly  working. 
From  the  beginning  evolution  wrought  on  the 
physical,  then  shifted  to  the  mental;  and  the 
line  of  development  now  is  toward  the  moral, 
letting  "the  ape  and  tiger  die."  From  what- 
ever point  we  study  the  evolution  of  man, 
social,  political,  or  religious,  we  see  that  the 
result  has  been  the  gradual  growth  of  his  sense 
of  abstract  justice,  the  broadening  of  his 
sympathies,  his  enlarging  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  people  outside  his  immediate  rela- 
tionship. 

It  is  a  long  way  from  the  philosophy  of  Cain 
to  the  teachings  of  Jesus;  from  regarding  all 
not  members  of  one's  tribe  or  of  one's  city  as 
aliens  liable  to  slavery  or  death,  to  the  cry  of 
Terentius,  "Nothing  human  is  foreign  to  me !" 
or  to  the  word  of  Saint  Paul,  "Ye  are  all  mem- 
bers one  of  another" ;  and  it  is  a  mighty  long 
way  the  nations  have  come  from  looking  upon 
the  invasion  of  neutral  states  as  a  probable 
necessity  of  war,  to  universal  condemnation  of 
such  violation  of  international  law. 

The  human  mind  which  emerges  from  belief 
in  a  multiplicity  of  gods  to  the  conception  of 
one  God  who  is  everybody's  God,  a  God  of 
justice,  of  holiness  and  of  infinite  love;  the 

33 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

mind  that  from  confused  notions  of  antago- 
nistic forces  in  nature,  self-destroying  and 
tending  to  chaos,  rises  to  the  conception  of 
order  and  beauty  in  the  universe,  to  the  unity 
of  nature,  to  the  reign  of  law,  and  the  correla- 
tion and  conservation  of  forces — this  mind 
cannot  in  its  evolution  toward  that  which  is 
perfect  stop  short  of  perfect  realization  of  the 
moral  and  social  unity  of  the  race.  Evolution 
never  ceases  till  its  objective  is  reached,  till 
the  initial  impulse  in  any  direction  is  carried 
through  and  blossoms  out  in  perfection.  There 
seems  to  exist  no  reason  whatever  in  the 
nature  of  things  why  the  human  intellect 
should  not  reach  this  stage  of  development. 
To  affirm  that  this  is  beyond  the  power  of  evo- 
lution is  to  say  that  human  nature  is  inca- 
pable of  improvement  beyond  a  certain  limit; 
that  the  same  intellect  which  can  invent  a 
deadly  engine  of  war  cannot  invent  a  way  to 
make  that  instrument  useless.  But  human 
nature  while  far  gone  in  unrighteousness  is 
not  wholly  bad,  capable  only  of  inventing  evil. 
It  can  "rise  on  the  stepping-stones"  of  its  sin- 
fulness and  stupidity  to  higher  things.  The 
history  of  man  is  the  story  of  his  redemption. 
He  is  not  on  a  circle,  he  is  on  a  spiral.  The 
moral  progress  of  the  race  is  a  refutation  of  its 

34 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

unchangeable  immorality  and  is  sure  prophecy 
of  its  future. 

With  this  developing  sense  of  international 
relationship  there  must  develop  likewise  a 
stronger  altruistic  sense,  and  with  this,  also, 
under  the  influence  of  religion,  a  growing  con- 
viction of  moral  obligation.  Once  this  convic- 
tion of  obligation  and  the  idea  of  human 
brotherhood  takes  possession  of  a  people,  the 
moral  forces  which  are  now  at  work  with  less 
resistance  than  at  any  time  in  the  world's 
history,  will  make  both  a  commonplace  reality 
in  all  national  and  international  relations. 
The  wrong  done  to  a  savage  in  Africa  will  be 
a  wrong  done  to  everyone  everywhere,  and 
justice  will  be  demanded  for  him  at  the  seat 
of  every  government,  as  every  government  now 
demands  protection  for  its  citizens  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  world,  and  under  whatever 
government  they  may  happen  to  be. 

The  realization  of  this  ideal  is  not  impos- 
sible. The  sentiment  of  nationality,  which 
was  born  in  the  throes  of  the  Keformation,  has 
grown  steadily  through  the  years  until  it  has 
now  become  dominant  in  the  political  thought 
of  the  twentieth  century.  "First,"  Viscount 
Morley  says,  "it  inflamed  visionaries,  then  it 
grew  potent  with  the  multitudes,  who  thought 

35 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

tlie  foreigner  the  author  of  their  wretchedness. 
Thus  nationality  went  through  all  the  stages. 
From  instinct  it  became  idea;  from  idea  ab- 
stract principle;  then  fervid  prepossession; 
ending  where  it  is  to-day,  in  dogma  whether 
accepted  or  evaded." 

It  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  a  baseless  dream 
that  human  brotherhood,  now  perhaps  only  a 
philanthropic  idea,  may  become  a  working 
reality.  When  that  day  arrives  war  will  be- 
come a  memory.  Moral  ideals  compete  for 
supremacy,  just  as  do  other  ideals,  and  we  may 
rest  assured  that  the  fittest  will  survive.  But 
no  ideal  can  be  more  fitting  and  gripping  than 
human  interest  in  human  welfare.  This  is  the 
international  mind.  This  is  the  Christ  mind. 
This  is  the  missionary  mind,  the  church  mind. 
It  is  this  mind  which  is  slowly  displacing  the 
parochial  mind. 

But  this  international  mind,  which  will 
be  a  factor  in  eliminating  war  and  misery, 
Treitschke  never  thinks  of.  He  never  rises 
above  a  narrow,  selfish  nationalism.  Interna- 
tionalism neither  destroys  nor  weakens  nation- 
alism, but,  like  the  good  Samaritan,  it  goes 
beyond  nationalism,  mental  and  social  provin- 
cialism, as  one's  sympathies  while  centered  in 
his  home  may  yet  go  out  to  all  other  homes.    It 

36 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

is  toward  the  development  of  this  mind  in 
human  affairs  that  the  currents  of  history 
surely  flow. 

But,  passing  from  Treitschke  and  his  philos- 
ophy, among  the  most  formidable  difficulties, 
which  on  the  surface  seems  to  render  per- 
petual peace  impossible,  is  the  difficulty  aris- 
ing from  the  unchangeable  laws  of  nature. 
Will  the  inevitable  growth  of  nations,  the  in- 
crease of  population,  and  the  resultant  de- 
mand for  expansion  in  colonial  possession  per- 
mit of  such  a  League?  Nations  must  grow  or 
die.  Are  we  not  therefore  attempting  by  such 
a  League  to  restrain  the  working  of  nature's 
laws.  Are  we  not  attempting  to  build  again 
another  Tower  of  Babel?  To  illustrate,  ac- 
cording to  a  well-known  Japanese  publicist, 
M.  Kawakami:  During  the  past  half  century 
Japan's  population  has  been  increasing  at  the 
rate  of  400,000  a  year.  Where  there  were 
33,000,000  Japanese  fifty  years  ago,  there  are 
to-day  about  54,000,000.  As  the  total  area  of 
Japan  proper  is  about  148,756  square  miles, 
the  density  of  population  is  about  356  per 
square  mile.  If  we  leave  out  of  consideration 
Hokkaido,  the  northern  island,  the  density  in- 
creases to  451  per  square  mile.  Now,  what 
can  any  government  do  with  such  a  congested 

37 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

country,  except  to  encourage  colonization? 
But  Japan  has  no  colonies  and  no  place  to 
which  her  surplus  population  may  emigrate. 
Neither  Korea  nor  Formosa  offers  any  terri- 
tory, since  they  also  are  badly  congested,  hav- 
ing 187  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.  Japan 
has  not  sufficient  natural  supply  of  coal  or 
iron  for  her  industrial  needs,  hence  she  looks 
to  mining  concessions  in  China.  But  the  great 
nations  of  Europe  seek  to  block  her  efforts  in 
that  direction,  although  they  have  had  no  com- 
punctions about  obtaining  all  kinds  of  con- 
cessions for  themselves. 

The  vital  force  of  a  people  cannot  be  con- 
fined. It  is  life,  and  life  resents  restraint. 
Life  must  have  space.  It  must  have  suitable 
environment  for  the  exercise  of  its  energy. 
Every  vigorous  state,  therefore,  must  provide 
for  its  surplus  population,  or  die  of  starvation. 
The  more  mouths  there  are  to  feed  the  smaller 
must  be  the  loaf.  Such  a  state  or  nation 
must,  therefore,  create  large  colonies,  or  scat- 
ter its  people  by  emigration  in  other  countries, 
among  other  peoples,  to  the  great  loss  of  the 
homeland,  and  the  gain  of  the  foreign  land. 
Can  such  a  state,  "cribbed,  cabined,  and  con- 
fined," ever  become  a  great  state,  a  world 
power?    And  does  not  this  whole  question  ac- 

S8 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

centuate  the  still  further  difficult  question  of 
the  rights  of  neighboring  small  states  to  exist 
at  all,  as  Belgium  or  Holland,  in  competition 
with  powerful  adjoining  states  in  the  struggle 
for  existence? 

Then  again,  is  it  possible  to  eradicate  selfish- 
ness and  greed  from  human  nature,  to  restrain 
human  passion,  national  egotism,  the  ambition 
of  militarism,  its  hunger  for  glory  and  lust  of 
conquest?  For,  unless  a  curb  is  put  on  the 
rapacity  of  corporation  thieves,  the  land-lust 
of  kings  and  emperors,  and  even  of  democ- 
racies ;  unless  some  restraint  is  put  on  the  pas- 
sions of  peoples  aroused  by  wrongs,  real  or  in- 
vented, and  instead  of  these  desires  a  mighty 
impulse  be  given  the  masses  of  the  people 
toward  universal  good  as  the  universal  goal, 
there  never  can  be  enduring  peace.  As  the 
known  possession  of  wealth  in  a  house  is  an 
inducement  to  burglars,  or  flashing  jewels  on 
the  person  is  a  temptation  to  highwaymen,  so 
the  material  resources  of  a  weak  state  have 
often  invited  the  cupidity  of  commercial  enter- 
prises to  reach  out,  under  the  guise  of  legiti- 
mate business,  for  the  undeveloped  wealth  of  a 
feeble  and  backward  people.  Can  one  for  a 
few  dollars  buy  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
fertile  acres,  worth  millions,  from  an  impov- 

39 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

erished  people  and  not  create  in  the  soul  of 
them  sullen  hostility?  Have  the  rich  oil 
fields,  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  Mexico 
never  aroused  the  sublime  patriotism  of 
American  financiers  for  the  honor  of  the  flag 
and  the  sanctity  of  invested  rights?  Have  the 
diamond  fields  of  Africa  never  influenced 
worid  politics  in  Downing  Street?  Has  the 
rubber  on  the  Congo  never  excited  the  greed 
of  European  commerce?  It  is  not  intimated 
that  undeveloped  wealth  should  lie  buried  for 
the  lack  of  capital,  but  without  any  knowledge 
of  the  negotiations,  the  secret  and  unscrupu- 
lous methods  of  corporation  chicanery  in  ex- 
ploiting the  property  of  poverty-stricken 
people,  have  we  not  been  ready  to  fight  for  the 
inviolability  of  commercial  interests,  when  in 
reality  we  were  only  ministering  to  the  in- 
satiable avarice  of  thieves  and  robbers?  Have 
we  never  heard  of  crooked  diplomacy  manipu- 
lated by  powerful  aggregations  of  wealth  forc- 
ing unwilling  trade  upon  a  helpless  people? 
The  cupidity  and  dishonesty  of  capitalistic 
combinations  which  claim  their  country's  pro- 
tection while  robbing  other  people  are  not 
identical  with  a  square  deal  for  those  nations, 
nor  are  such  combinations  indispensable  pro- 
moters of  international  peace. 

40 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

But,  after  all,  one  of  the  strongest  argu- 
ments against  leagues  of  peace  is  the  biological 
argument  to  which  we  will  again  refer.  War, 
it  is  affirmed,  is  a  necessity.  The  natural  laws 
of  the  struggle  for  existence  are  universal  in 
their  operation  and  must  necessarily  drive 
nations  whose  interests  clash  into  war,  despite 
all  that  the  power  of  man  can  do  to  prevent  it. 
"War,''  wrote  Bernhardi,  "is  a  biological  neces- 
sity." "The  struggle  for  existence  is  in  the 
life  of  nature,  the  basis  for  all  healthy  de- 
velopment." "So  long  as  there  are  nations 
who  strive  for  an  enlarged  sphere  of  activity 
so  long  will  conflicting  interests  come  into 
being  and  occasions  for  making  war  arise." 
"Struggle  is,  therefore,  a  universal  law  of 
nature,  and  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
which  leads  to  struggle  is  acknowledged  to  be 
a  natural  condition  of  existence." 

Now,  if  this  contention  be  true — that  war 
has  its  basis  in  natural  law — then,  here  again, 
it  is  conclusive  that  all  the  peace  societies  in 
the  world  can  never  succeed  in  their  resistance 
to  the  omnipotent  impulse  of  natural  law ;  and 
that,  as  Von  Moltke  said,  "while  wars  are  in- 
human, eternal  peace  is  a  dream."  But  is  it 
true?  Is  it  a  law  of  necessity  grounded  in  the 
nature  of  things  that,  notwithstanding  free- 

41 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

dom  of  will,  each  generation  must  prepare  for 
war  in  the  next?  Must  we  toil  and  build  and 
think,  and  develop  national  resources,  only  to 
have  the  labors  of  hand  and  brain  blown  to 
dust  in  a  few  years,  and  that  by  those  who  are 
now  children  in  our  homes  and  schools?  Is 
this  a  necessity?  Forty  years  of  peace  in 
Europe  prior  to  this  eruption  would  indicate 
that  war  is  not  a  necessity.  There  is  scarcely 
a  war  in  history,  excepting  wars  of  defense 
and  struggles  for  freedom,  that  can  be  justified 
on  the  ground  of  necessity  in  nature.  Neither 
the  wars  of  Napoleon,  nor  those  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  nor  those  of  Prussia  under  the  Bis- 
marckian  regime,  can  be  charged  to  any  other 
cause  than  the  avowed  ambition  of  these  war- 
riors. No  sane  man  will  allege  that  this  world 
war,  solely  the  outcome  of  Germany's  ambi- 
tion for  the  hegemony  of  the  world,  was  due  to 
an  irresistible  necessity  grounded  in  the  con- 
stitution of  nature. 

Once  this  is  admitted — and  conceded  it 
must  be — all  argument  for  war  as  a  necessity 
is  at  once  dissipated.  One  might  as  well  argue 
that  injustice  is  a  necessity.  Wrong  is  fric- 
tion in  the  world's  machinery.  But  friction  is 
not  a  necessity.  War  is  the  breakdown  of 
reason.    War,  that  is,  wars  of  aggression, 

42 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

wars  for  territorial  gain,  for  extension  of  com- 
merce, for  forcing  religion  or  Kultur  upon  de- 
fenseless peoples,  under  the  guise  of  blessing 
them  with  a  superior  civilization — all  such 
wars  are  nothing  more  or  less  than  deliberate 
^-murder.    War  is  murder. 

It  is  not  inferred  from  this,  however,  that 
all  war  is  wrong.  The  intent  of  an  act  de- 
termines the  morality  of  the  act,  but  the  intent 
itself  is  determined  by  the  end  sought.  Wars 
in  self-defense  cannot  be  wrong.  Invasion 
must  be  resisted,  despotisms  destroyed,  liberty 
defended.  Such  wars  cannot  be  wrong,  unless 
the  police  forces  of  the  universe,  the  moral  and 
physical  laws  of  God  which  work  automati- 
cally in  punishment  of  violated  law,  are  wrong. 
If  morality  endures,  morality  must  be  de- 
fended. 

Nor  can  it  be  af&rmed  in  all  fairness  that 
war  is  never  a  benefit  to  civilization.  Sweep- 
ing generalizations  are  generally  sweeping  as- 
sumptions. Constitutional  changes  in  favor 
of  Liberalism  in  European  governments  dur- 
ing the  last  one  hundred  years  had  close  con- 
nection with  war,  if  they  were  not  in  almost 
every  instance  its  immediate  product.  Ex- 
pansion of  empire,  as  of  England  in  India, 
France  in  Algiers,  the  independence  of  the 

43 


^raE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

United  States,  of  Holland  and  Switzerland, 
the  freedom  of  oppressed  nationalities  in 
eastern  Europe,  and  of  the  black  race  in 
America,  have  all  been  the  result  of  war.  And 
if  Germany,  like  Lucifer  fallen  from  heaven, 
has  lost  her  political  and  economic  supremacy, 
the  victories  of  the  Allies  which  established 
the  supremacy  of  right  over  might,  and  the 
liberation  of  small  nationalities  from  political 
bondage,  have  been  a  distinct  gain  to  civiliza- 
tion. 

The  remarkable  fact,  however,  which  must 
not  be  overlooked,  is  that  every  war  which  had 
its  origin  in  national  greed,  egoism,  and  dis- 
regard of  justice,  has  resulted,  in  the  long 
run,  not  to  the  benefit  of  the  aggressor,  but 
to  his  lasting  injury.  The  empire  which  Bis- 
marck established  by  rank  injustice  and  the 
mailed  fist  on  Austria,  Denmark,  and  France, 
has  fallen,  as  Babylon  fell,  as  the  Napoleonic 
empire  fell,  as  all  empires  of  force  have  fallen 
and  must  ever  fall,  even  at  the  very  height  of 
their  power  and  planning  new  conquests  and 
greater  glory.  God  is  never  in  a  hurry.  He 
knows  that  there  is  no  loophole  in  the  universe 
through  which  the  criminal  can  escape  from 
the  consequences  of  his  crime. 

Louise  of  Prussia  will  beg  for  mercy  at  the 
44 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

feet  of  Napoleon  only  to  be  spurned  by  the 
conqueror.  But  the  day  will  come  when  the 
nephew  of  that  same  Napoleon  will  be  a  pris- 
oner in  the  hands  of  the  grandson  of  that  same 
Louise,  and  his  kingdom  prostrate  at  the 
mercy  of  Prussia.  Bismarck  will  endeavor  to 
crush  the  life  of  France  by  loading  her 
with  indemnities  the  world  had  never  heard  of 
before.  But  the  day  will  come  when  the  suc- 
cessor of  Bismarck  will  cry  out  to  France  and 
her  allies,  from  whom  Germany  boasted  she 
would  extract  unthinkable  billions,  to  reduce 
the  indemnities  which  the  allied  governments 
have  laid  upon  her.  In  the  Hall  of  Mirrors  at 
Versailles,  triumphant  militarism,  intoxicated 
with  glory  and  power,  will  erect  on  the  foun- 
dations of  blood  and  iron  the  German  empire. 
But  the  day  will  come  when  in  that  very  same 
Hall  of  Mirrors  at  Versailles  that  same  Hohen- 
zollern  imperialism  shall  be  hurled  from 
power  and  the  empire  flung  to  the  depths  of 
ruin.  "He  hath  showed  strength  with  his 
arm;  he  hath  scattered  the  proud  in  the  im- 
agination of  their  hearts.  He  hath  put  down 
the  mighty  from  their  seats,  and  exalted  them 
of  low  degree." 


45 


CHAPTER  III 

IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 
—CONTINUED 

Philosophers  like  Hegel  in  Germany  and 
Cousin  in  France  may  gravely  conclude  that 
war  is  the  inevitable  result  of  the  clash  of 
ideas  which  particular  nations  may  represent 
in  the  course  of  their  historical  development. 
Such  conclusions,  however,  fade  into  vacuity 
when  the  facts  of  history  show  that  neither 
different  ideas  nor  difference  of  national  char- 
acter are  necessary  causes  of  war.  By  this  it 
is  not  to  be  understood  that  ideas  representing 
conflicting  civilizations  have  not  played  im- 
portant part  in  the  history  of  war.  The 
epochal  battles  of  Platia,  of  Salamis,  of  Mara- 
thon, the  struggle  between  Darius  and  Alex- 
ander at  Arbela,  representing  the  conflict  be- 
tween Eastern  and  Western  civilizations,  and, 
without  further  illustration,  the  war  of  the 
world  just  ended,  which  was  certainly  a  death 
struggle  between  Autocracy  and  Democracy, 

46 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

may  all  be  considered  as  wars  of  ideas.  But 
however  much  such  battles  may  have  marked 
the  end  or  the  beginning  of  an  epoch,  it  cannot 
be  shown  that  different  ideas,  different  civil- 
izations are,  as  these  philosophers  teach,  "in- 
evitable causes  of  war."  Questions  of  land 
and  food  may  with  much  greater  reason  be  re- 
garded as  "inevitable  causes."  For  the  simple 
fact  is,  as  modern  history  shows,  that  an- 
tagonistic nations  have  had  similar  ideals,  and 
nations  dissimilar  both  in  character  and  ideals 
have  fought  side  by  side  against  peoples  domi- 
nated by  some  obsession  of  their  exceptional 
place  in  history,  or  superiority  of  culture. 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  determine  what  a 
true  cause  is.  What  may  appear  to  be  a 
cause  of  war  may  really  turn  out  to  be  simply 
the  occasion^  and  we  shall  have  to  go  further 
back  or  substitute  some  other  act  or  series  of 
acts,  if  we  would  discover  the  truth.  "Eoughly 
speaking,"  says  Professor  Cramb  (Germany 
and  England,  page  113),  "I  should  define  any 
cause  to  which  an  historical  event  is  ascribed 
as  a  true  cause  when  it  can  be  submitted  to  the 
categories  of  universality  and  necessity." 

Of  course,  it  hardly  can  be  expected  that 
historians  would  admit  theology  or  religion 
except  as  political  forces  into  their  considera- 

47 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

tion  of  the  causes  of  war,  but  human  depravity 
is  universal  and  wherever  moral  depravity 
operates  unrestrained  by  moral  ideals  there  of 
necessity,  owing  to  the  nature  of  evil  itself, 
war  will  be;  and  it  cannot  be  eradicated  ex- 
cept by  a  force  greater  than  the  cause.  Vis- 
count John  Morley  goes  to  the  heart  of  the 
matter  when,  discussing  religious  conflicts  in 
France  under  Louis  XV,  he  says,  "No  perma- 
nent transformation  of  a  society,  we  may  be 
sure,  can  ever  take  place  until  a  transforma- 
tion has  been  accomplished  in  the  spiritual 
basis  of  thought." 

The  roots  of  war  are  grounded  in  what  Kant 
designated  as  the  radical  evil  in  human 
nature.  Saint  James  had  a  long  time  before 
shown  the  same  source,  "From  whence  come 
wars  and  fightings  among  you?  come  they  not 
hence,  even  of  your  lusts  that  war  in  your 
members?"  Will  it  be  contended,  in  the  face 
of  human  freedom,  that  this  radical  evil  is  ir- 
resistible and  cannot  be  repressed?  The  moral 
development  of  humanity  furnishes  the  com- 
pletest  refutation  of  this  assumption  that  can 
be  made. 

The  argument  that  so  long  as  there  are  na- 
tions who  strive  for  an  "enlarged  sphere  of 
activity"  war  will  arise  is  certainly  valid,  but 

48 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

it  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  so  long  as 
territorial  extension  is  demanded,  or  greed  is 
exercised  in  controlling  commerce  between 
nations,  war  is  inevitable. 

But  in  the  court  of  reason  and  justice  what 
right  has  one  state  to  demand  "enlarged 
sphere  of  activity"  at  the  expense  of  another 
sitate?  What  the  American  Declaration  of 
Independence  asserted,  that  all  men  have  the 
inalienable  right  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness,"  is  just  as  applicable  to 
states.  Every  nation  has  the  right  to  exist 
and  to  develop  to  the  utmost  its  racial  spirit, 
its  powers  and  resources,  but  never  at  the  ex- 
pense of  other  nations  who  also  have  the  right 
to  exist.  To  deny  this  is  to  dethrone  morality, 
even  to  reverse  the  moral  order  of  the  universe. 
It  makes  crime  a  virtue,  wrong  right,  and 
right  wrong.  Such  a  philosophy  can  only 
spread  moral  disorder  throughout  the  world 
and  must  therefore  be  a  false  philosophy.  It 
is  instinctively  abhorred  by  the  normal  mass 
of  civilized  humanity.  God  himself,  the  moral 
Governor  of  the  universe,  warns  men  against 
such  an  unnatural  inversion.  "Woe  unto 
them  that  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil;  that 
put  darkness  for  light,  and  light  for  darkness ; 
that  put  bitter  for  sweet,  and  sweet  for  bitter !" 

49 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

The  Central  Powers  to-day  know  the  full 
meaning  of  that  warning,  for  it  is  just  such 
teaching,  that  might  makes  right,  that  has 
brought  them  where  they  are. 

But  if  a  nation  has  the  right  to  exist,  it  has 
the  right  to  exist  somewhere,  that  is,  in  its 
own  defined  and  recognized  territory.  To  this 
domain  it  has  exclusive  right  of  possession. 
No  other  nation  has  the  right  to  invade  that 
territory.  The  desire  for  "enlarged  sphere  of 
activity"  is  no  ground  for  the  invasion  of  it 
any  more  than  a  desire  for  any  other  property 
is  a  justifiable  ground  for  theft. 

Of  course,  in  defense  of  the  doctrine  that  a 
strong  state  has  the  right  to  invade  and  absorb 
a  weak  state,  the  teachers  of  such  a  philosophy 
will  affirm  that  state  morality  is  different  from 
individual  morality.  Whatever  may  be  the 
moral  relation  of  the  state  to  its  people,  which 
is  internal  justice,  there  is  a  vast  gulf,  we  are 
told,  between  that  and  its  ethical  relations  to 
other  states.  "The  acts  of  the  state  cannot 
be  judged  by  the  standard  of  individual  mo- 
rality." Here  again  is  justification  for  every 
brutality  and  villainy  and  Bismarckian  bully- 
ing, for  every  deceit  and  secret  trickery,  such 
as  Germany's  attempted  intrigue  with  Mexico 
against  the  United  States  while  professing 

60 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

friendship  for  us,  which  so  scandalized  hon- 
orable nations,  that  President  Wilson  declared 
before  Congress  that  so  mendacious,  so  lack- 
ing in  moral  character  was  the  German  gov- 
ernment that  no  self-respecting  nation  could 
deal  with  it. 

There  may  be  left  yet  some  statesmen  and 
lawyers  who  will  insist  that  "the  morality  of 
the  state  must  be  developed  out  of  its  own 
peculiar  essence,"  just  as  individual  morality 
is  rooted  in  the  personality  of  the  man  and  his 
duties  toward  society ;  that  the  morality  of  the 
state  must  be  judged  by  the  nature  and  ^^radson 
d'etre  of  the  state,  and  not  of  the  individual." 
Treitschke  declares,  "He  who  is  not  man 
enough  to  look  this  truth  in  the  face  should 
not  meddle  in  politics."  In  the  first  place,  it 
is  not  a  "truth."  While  the  theory  may  be 
and  has  been  in  history  universally  accepted, 
every  moral  nation  should  denounce  it,  since  it 
is  intrinsically  false,  anti-Christ  in  essence, 
and  never  can  be  other  than,  like  all  political 
falsehoods,  a  promoter  of  social  wrong  and  in- 
ternational distrust  so  long  as  it  is  recognized 
and  acted  upon  in  state  laws  and  international 
dealings.  Every  robber  trust  company  and 
soulless  corporation  assumes  that  its  morality 
must  be  different  from  personal  morality,  and 

51 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

therefore  it  will  do  as  a  corporation  what  no 
individual  member  of  the  body  would  dare  to 
do  as  an  individual.  Every  literary  or  theatri- 
cal genius  who  by  profligacy  of  life  defies  the 
sense  of  decency  in  the  community  is  apolo- 
gized for  as  a  law  to  himself,  and  not  to  be 
judged  by  the  ordinary  codes  of  decent  con- 
duct. But  there  are  not,  and  there  cannot  be, 
two  kinds  of  morality.  The  universe  is  one. 
There  cannot  be  one  morality  for  the  rich  and 
another  for  the  poor,  one  morality  for  king 
and  another  for  peasant.  Right  is  right,  and 
wrong  is  wrong;  and  if  emperors,  diplomats, 
and  murderers  of  the  human  race  who  start 
wars  could  be  put  on  trial  for  their  lives  at  the 
bar  of  justice,  just  as  other  criminals  are  for 
their  murders,  there  would  be  fewer  wars. 
But  such  criminals  shelter  themselves  on  the 
ground  of  the  moral  irresponsibility  of  the 
state.  This  denial  of  moral  responsibility  ex- 
tends to  the  right  of  the  state  to  violate  its 
agreements  with  other  states.  "Not  all  the 
treaties  in  the  world,"  it  is  affirmed,  "can  alter 
the  fact  that  the  weak  is  always  the  prey  of  the 
stronger  whenever  the  latter  desires  and  is  able 
to  assert  this  principle.  As  soon  as  we  con- 
sider states  as  intelligent  entities  lawsuits  be- 
tween them  are  seen  to  be  capable  of  solution 

52 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

only  by  material  force" — another  misstate- 
ment, as  already  shown,  which  humanity  will 
some  day  get  rid  of.  For,  at  bottom,  what  is 
the  state  but  an  aggregate  of  moral  beings 
organized  for  social  and  moral  purposes? 
When,  then,  did  the  individual  unit  of  this 
organization  lose  his  moral  nature  and  obliga- 
tions? If  the  purpose  or  mission  of  the  state 
is  the  moral  education  of  its  members,  how 
can  the  state  remain  nonmoral? 

It  is  self-evident  that  if  there  is  no  universal 
morality  imbedded  in  the  nature  of  humanity ; 
if  this  morality  is  not  of  universal  obligation ; 
and  if,  because  of  the  state's  relation  to  its 
own  particular  duties  and  self-interests,  it  is 
not  practically  possible  to  conform  to  this 
standard,  then,  despite  all  gospel  preaching, 
the  declarations  of  peace  societies,  and  agree- 
ments of  conventions,  it  is  impossible  for  wars 
ever  to  cease.  Justice  will  never  reign  upon 
the  earth,  since  the  foundations  of  justice  are 
destroyed,  and  the  dream  of  the  ages, 

.  .  .  "when  aU  men's  good 
Be  each  man's  rule,  and  universal  Peace 
Lie  like  a  shaft  of  light  across  the  land," 

can  never  in  the  nature  of  things  become 
a    reality.      Humanity    is    doomed.      Ever- 

63 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

recurring  conflict  for  supremacy,  or  self-pre- 
servation, is  as  certain  as  the  motion  of  the 
stars,  since  the  final  arbiter  in  every  dispute 
must  be  force. 

But  it  will  be  observed  that  in  order  to 
justify  the  right  of  the  state  to  extend  its 
boundaries  over  other  states  by  brute  force 
the  biological  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
which  seems  to  be  a  universal  law  of  life,  is 
brought  over  by  those  philosophers  from  the 
jungle  and  applied  to  the  state  as  a  law 
of  nature  to  which  the  state  must  conform 
in  the  struggle  for  existence.  "Struggle  is  a 
universal  law  of  nature,  and  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  which  leads  to  struggle  is 
acknowledged  to  be  a  natural  condition  of  ex- 
istence." "This  duty  of  self-assertion  is  by  no 
means  satisfied  by  the  mere  repulse  of  hostile 
attacks;  it  includes  the  obligation  to  assure 
the  possibility  of  life  and  development  to  the 
whole  body  of  the  nation  embraced  by  the 
state."  This,  of  course,  means  expansion,  and 
underlies  the  German  demand  made  during 
the  war  for  the  annexation  of  Belgium  and 
northern  France  and  the  absorption  of  Rus- 
sian provinces. 

Darwin's  theory  of  evolution,  based  on 
Malthus's  theory  of  population,  came  at  an 

64 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

opportune  time  for  that  class  of  people  who 
needed  some  support  for  their  assumption  of 
superiority  over  others.  The  Tories  in  Eng- 
land seized  it  for  political  purposes.  Every 
law  for  the  betterment  of  the  working  classes, 
the  poor  and  unfortunate,  found  scientific 
reasons  against  its  adoption  in  this  newly  dis- 
covered law  of  the  survival  of  the  fit.  In  Ger- 
many it  was  readily  adopted  by  the  military 
classes.  Through  the  influence  of  Haeckel, 
and  other  materialistic  scientists,  it  became 
popular  in  university  teaching  and  aided  im- 
mensely in  the  growth  of  national  egotism, 
since,  if  it  could  be  shown  that  in  the  evolution 
of  races  the  Germans  were  a  superior  people — 
as  their  philosophers  and  historians  had  made 
them  believe — they  were  destined  by  a  law  of 
nature,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  to  overcome  all 
other  races  and  thus  accomplish  their  mission. 
The  adaptation  of  this  law  to  the  nature  and 
function  of  the  state  fitted  easily  into  the  phil- 
osophy of  Pan-Germanists  and  gave  scientific 
validity  to  all  their  plans. 

Whether  there  is  or  is  not  in  reality,  and 
without  any  metaphor,  such  a  struggle  for  ex- 
istence in  nature  as  Darwin  postulated  need 
not  be  considered  here.  That  a  nation  may 
adopt  this  brute  law,  casting  aside  all  re- 

55 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

straints  of  reason  and  morality  as  an  indi- 
vidual may,  and  prosper  in  things  physical, 
need  not  be  disputed.  We  may  go  further  and 
admit  that  riches,  industrial  prosperity,  terri- 
torial expansion,  glory  and  power  may  follow 
the  state  in  its  conformity  to  this  physical  law 
because  the  state  fulfills  that  law,  but  it  will 
be  at  the  price  of  its  soul.  Even  then  its  su- 
premacy will  be  only  ephemeral.  Having  sunk 
itself  in  the  physical  it  loses  the  spiritual. 
But  the  spiritual  alone  stays.  The  physical, 
subject  to  the  laws  of  death,  in  the  long  run 
vanishes  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

Like  the  leaves  on  the  trees  the  generations 
of  men  come  and  go,  and  the  grass  grows  green 
where  once  their  civilization  flourished.  The 
Arab  pitches  his  tent  on  the  site  of  Babylon 
and  the  cypress  grows  among  the  ruins  of 
Rome.  But  we  still  have  the  Iliad  and  the 
JEneid,  the  tragedies  of  Euripides  and  ^schy- 
lus,  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  and  the 
disputations  of  Cicero,  the  philosophy  of  Plato 
and  the  history  of  Thucydides — and  it  is 
quite  likely  that  the  Celestial  Rose  of  Para- 
dise in  Dante's  Divina  Commedia  will  con- 
tinue to  ravish  the  soul  of  the  Saint  gazing  on 
Eternal  Beauty,  though  the  windows  of  Notre 
Dame,  which  it  is  said  suggested  the  vision, 

66 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

be  shattered  to  dust  by  the  apostles  of  the 
material.     The  spiritual  stays. 

Moral  laws  have  their  innings.  They  work 
automatically.  The  state,  composed  of  moral 
beings,  is  a  moral  entity.  It  cannot  therefore 
violate  the  laws  of  its  life  by  becoming  purely 
physical  or  nonmoral,  as  some  assert  it  may, 
without  the  loss  of  those  spiritual  qualities 
which  first  gave  it  ideals,  without  debasing  its 
literature  and  art  by  drying  up  their  sources, 
without  lowering  the  character  of  its  people, 
and  without  plunging  deeper  into  the  qualities 
of  the  brute  in  order  to  defend  itself  against 
enemies  which  in  the  process  of  its  physical  ex- 
pansion it  has  aroused  against  its  insatiable 
ambition.  Thus,  by  exciting  the  enmity  of  all 
nations,  it  will  be  driven  by  the  momentum  of 
its  history  and  the  biological  law  of  self- 
preservation  to  force  mankind  into  wars  and 
miseries,  only  to  fall  a  victim  at  last  to  the 
physical  powers  it  has  insanely  evoked. 
History  shows  that  evolution  is  working,  and 
has  always  worked,  not  primarily  for  the  su- 
premacy of  the  strong,  nor  even  for  the  intel- 
lectual, but  steadily  through  the  ages  for  the 
triumph  of  the  good.  "The  meek  shall  inherit 
the  earth."  Not  antagonism,  but  cooperation 
is  the  law  of  human  progress.     This  is  the  law 

57 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

of  Christ,  and  this  law  is  the  soundest  political 
philosophy.  Along  this  road — ^if  our  states- 
men, our  labor  leaders,  our  lords  of  capital, 
the  people,  would  only  take  it — is  the  way  to 
industrial  peace,  social  progress,  international 
friendship,  universal  brotherhood. 

But  even  admitting  that  it  is  laudable  for  a 
state  to  become  great,  is  it  necessary  for  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  its  people  that  it 
should  rob  other  people  as  Austria  was  robbed 
of  Silesia,  Denmark  of  Schleswig-Holstein, 
Italy  of  Trentino,  France  of  Alsace-Lorraine? 
If  this  is  necessary,  then  Japan,  over-popu- 
lated and  lacking  in  material  resources, 
should  be  given  a  free  hand  in  China,  which 
has  a  superabundance  of  what  Japan  needs  for 
the  industrial  life  of  her  people. 

What  is  greatness?  Treitschke's  concep- 
tion of  a  great  state — and  all  Prussian  histori- 
ans who  wrote  history  for  the  glorification  of 
the  house  of  Hohenzollern  and  the  unification 
of  the  German  states  under  Prussian  rule 
adopt  a  similar  view — is  a  state  so  mighty  in 
its  own  power  that  it  shall  be  under  no  obliga- 
tion to  respect  the  rights  of  smaller  states,  nor 
those  of  great  states  any  longer  than  prudence 
will  permit.  Even  in  the  world  of  the  spirit 
it  is  only  a  great  state,  he  affirms,  that  can 

68 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

achieve  the  highest  culture,  since  it  is  only  the 
vision  of  a  mighty  empire  extending  its  sway 
over  other  peoples,  suppressing  their  national 
aspirations  and  impressing  upon  them  its 
superior  civilization,  that  can  fire  creative 
genius  in  poetry  and  art,  philosophy  and 
politics,  and  quicken  invention  in  realms  of 
science.  Hence  the  culture  of  the  small  state, 
however  charming  may  be  the  refinement  of 
its  people,  the  liberality  of  its  institutions,  the 
loftiness  of  its  moral  character,  and  how 
deeply  content  the  nation  may  be  to  live  its 
own  life  unruffled  by  passions  for  conquest 
and  glory  which  sweep  over  great  states,  still 
it  is  only  when  the  small  state  is  absorbed 
in  the  larger  state  that  its  culture,  linked  up  to 
material  grandeur  and  power,  can  reach  its 
highest  development.  Force  alone  is  the  bul- 
wark of  civilization. 

Serious  statements  on  such  a  subject  by  an 
eminent  historian  compel  careful  attention. 
They  are  not  easily  brushed  aside.  It  cannot, 
indeed,  be  denied,  with  the  facts  of  history 
before  us,  that  small  states,  circumscribed  in 
territory,  are  easy  prey  to  powerful  armies 
which  may  be  able  to  penetrate  quickly  to  the 
heart  of  the  nation,  and  spread  the  horrors  of 
war  over  the  whole  people.    Nor  can  it  be 

59 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

denied  that  small  states  are  quarrelsome 
states,  engaged  in  rivalries  among  themselves, 
breeding  petty  jealousies  and  hatreds,  and  be- 
cause of  their  rancorous  disputes  and  everlast- 
ing controversies  giving  occasion  for  war  be- 
tween greater  nations,  as  is  illustrated  in  the 
history  of  the  Balkan  States  from  time  im- 
memorial. 

But  while  this  is  admitted,  the  history  of 
mankind  furnishes  abundant  proof  that  small 
states  have  contributed  more  to  the  progress 
of  civilization  than  have  great  states.  No  one 
needs  to  be  told  what  humanity  owes  to  the 
small  republics  of  Greece;  to  Rome,  before  the 
frenzy  of  imperialism  destroyed  the  simplicity 
of  former  days;  to  the  religion  and  literature 
of  the  Hebrews,  to  Florence,  Venice,  Bologna, 
and  other  centers  of  culture.  Nor  let  it  be 
forgotten  that  in  the  Reformation  period,  in 
the  struggle  for  democracy  and  religious  free- 
dom, the  three  states  that  defended  both 
against  imperialism  were  the  small  states  of 
Holland,  Switzerland,  and  Scotland.  Com- 
pared to  the  influence  of  these  small  states 
upon  civilization  the  great  monarchies  of  Louis 
XIV,  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  of  Germany 
under  William  II,  sink  into  insignificance. 

Then,  again,  when  Bernhardi,  for  example, 
60 


IS  A  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  POSSIBLE? 

declares  that  "desire  for  peace  renders  civil- 
ized nations  anaemic  and  marks  a  decline  of 
spirit  and  political  courage/'  or,  that  "war 
in  opposition  to  peace  does  more  to  arouse  na- 
tional life  and  to  expand  national  power  than 
any  means  known  to  history/'  the  logic  of  his 
argument  leads  to  an  absurdity,  for  the  same 
argument — if  it  has  any  validity — would  in- 
vite us  for  this  purpose  to  revive  the  gladia- 
torial combats  of  ancient  Rome.  "The 
Roman,''  says  the  historian  Lecky,  "who 
looked  with  delight  upon  these  terrible  com- 
bats of  the  amphitheater,  sought  by  this  means 
to  make  men  brave  and  fearless  rather  than 
gentle  and  humane,  and  in  his  eyes  that  spec- 
tacle was  to  be  applauded  which  steeled  the 
heart  against  the  fear  of  death."  Therefore, 
as  the  Romans  did,  as  the  Emperor  Trajan  did, 
who  during  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
days  put  ten  thousand  prisoners  of  war  to 
fight  as  gladiators  into  the  arena,  the  German 
prisoners  of  war  in  the  prison  camps  of  Eng- 
land and  France,  and  those  captured  by  the 
Americans,  should  have  been  forced  into 
gladiatorial  combats  in  order  to  keep  England 
and  France  from  becoming  "anaemic"  and 
"spiritless,"  and  to  make  those  nations  also 
brave   and   fearless.     But    Germany    herself 

61 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

would  now  repudiate  the  philosophy  of  Bern- 
hardi.  She  has  learned  since  this  war  began 
that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  people,  or  the 
soldiers  of  England,  or  of  France,  or  of  Bel- 
gium, or  of  the  United  States,  to  witness 
gladiatorial  combats  in  order  to  make  them 
"brave  and  fearless." 

And  no  less  vacuous  is  the  statement  of 
Treitschke  that  "it  has  always  been  the  weary, 
spiritless,  and  exhausted  nations  which  have 
played  with  the  dream  of  perpetual  peace." 
Relentless  facts  compel  the  reply  that  Ger- 
many has  recently  found  out  differently.  She 
has  discovered  to  her  cost — at  the  cost  of 
nearly  five  million  men — that  Treitschke  was 
mistaken.  She  thought  France  was  decadent, 
England  spiritless,  and  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  were  devoid  of  idealism  and 
were  merely  luxury-loving  worshipers  of  the 
golden  calf.  But  the  men  commanded  by 
Joffre  and  Foch  and  Haig  and  Pershing  have 
supplied  this  defect  in  Germany's  education. 


62 


CHAPTER  ly 
POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

In  the  judgment  of  men  who  fully  compre- 
hend the  difficulties  in  the  pathway  of  peace, 
it  would  seem  that  there  is  no  insuperable 
difficulty  blocking  the  road  to  concord  among 
the  nations  that  may  not  be  blasted  out  if  the 
people,  the  democracies  of  the  world,  will  have 
it  so.  The  Will  to  Peace  may  be  just  as  strong 
and  irresistible  as  the  Will  to  Power,  if  that 
Will  is  set  in  motion. 

Take  this  last  difficulty  mentioned,  the 
struggle  for  existence.  This  to  many  minds 
is  the  greatest  difficulty  of  all.  But  is  it  a  real 
and  insuperable  difficulty?  The  whole  argu- 
ment rests  upon  the  theory  that  in  nature 
there  is  an  unceasing  "struggle  for  ex- 
istence," that  in  all  realms  of  being,  among 
all  living  things,  plant  or  animal,  there  oper- 
ates an  omnipresent,  irresistible  law  which  is 
ever  weeding  out  the  weaker;  so  that  only 
those  forms  of  life  which  harmonize  with  their 
environment,  succeed  in  obtaining  food,  and 

63 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

destroying  their  enemies,  can  survive.  This 
instinct  of  self-preservation  compels  by  inner 
necessity  the  struggle  for  the  survival  of  the 
strong,  and  this  law  applies  to  nations  as  it 
does  to  the  individual  or  the  brute. 

This  dictum  of  science,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made  but  may  be  referred 
to  again,  which  seems  to  account  for  the  rise 
and  fall  of  empires  as  easily  as  for  the  death 
of  beasts  in  the  jungle,  has  obtained  general 
acceptance.  We  need  not  deny  it.  So  far  as 
it  pertains  to  the  brute  creation,  it  may  be 
true.  But  without  claiming  to  possess  suflS- 
cient  knowledge  of  all  the  data  upon  which 
scientists  establish  their  theory,  one  may  chal- 
lenge the  processes  of  reasoning  by  which  this 
law  is  applied  to  man.  Has  the  benevolent 
God  so  created  man?  We  may  grant  that 
this  is  a  physical  law  applicable  wholly  to 
physical  creatures,  a  law  of  which  they  are 
unconscious,  but  which  nevertheless  compels 
them  by  the  very  necessity  of  their  being  to 
obey.  They  have  no  choice.  They  are  im- 
pelled by  instinct  and  cannot  change  their 
nature  or  the  conditions  of  their  existence. 
But  man  is  not  wholly  a  physical  being,  and 
here  is  an  incalculable  difference.  He  is  also 
spiritual,  mental,  and  despite  all  that  ma- 

64 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

terialism  may  affirm  concerning  the  origin  of 
man,  he  knows  that  he  possesses  free  will.  He 
knows  that  he  is  not  immovable,  chained  to 
iron  necessity.  Between  him  and  brute  crea- 
tion there  is  a  great  gulf.  He  is  not  impelled 
by  instinct  to  obey.  He  reasons.  He  thinks 
and  plans,  looks  before  and  after.  He  reasons, 
and  his  reason  puts  him  outside  the  grip  of 
necessity.  Nor  is  he  a  compulsory  victim  of 
environment.  He  may  change  his  environ- 
ment. In  him  there  is  no  brute  law  which 
cannot  be  controlled  by  a  higher  law,  a  spir- 
itual power  within  him,  so  that  he  is  not  com- 
pelled by  any  irresistible  law  of  nature  to  any 
one  exclusive  line  of  action  or  unchangeable 
condition  of  living.  He  creates  surroundings 
and  masters  conditions.  By  his  ever-increas- 
ing knowledge  he  compels  the  laws  and  the 
forces  of  nature,  like  the  genii  of  Aladdin^s 
lamp  in  Arabian  story,  to  obey  his  will.  The 
law  of  the  jungle  is  not  applicable  to  man.  In 
him  is  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  however 
perverted  or  undeveloped.  In  him,  imbedded 
in  his  nature,  are  also  the  mighty  instincts  of 
love  and  sympathy  which  demand  sacrifice 
and  not  struggle,  generosity  and  not  greed; 
and  all  these  powers  of  his  spiritual  nature 
enable  him,  if  he  will  submit  to  the  higher 

65 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

lawB  of  his  being  rather  than  to  the  brutish 
instincts  which  war  against  the  spiritual,  to 
join  with  his  fellows  in  leagues  of  peace,  and, 
resisting  the  momentum  of  past  history,  make 
peace,  and  not  war,  the  habit  of  the  human 
race. 

Having  thus  briefly  considered  those  objec- 
tions which  have  been  oftenest  made  against 
the  possibility  of  enduring  peace,  there  re- 
mains the  political  objection,  which  is  the  most 
practical  objection.  There  is  no  question  of 
greater  import  to  the  world,  present  and 
future,  than  this.  If  the  nations  fall  back  into 
pre-war  distrust  of  each  other;  if  Germany, 
stung  with  defeat  and  humiliation,  sinks  into 
sullen  hatred  and  nurses  revenge;  if  Bulgaria, 
Hungary,  Italy,  Russia,  and  what  is  left  of 
Austria  shall  cherish  the  feeling  that  they 
have  been  cheated  by  the  great  powers, 
such  an  attitude  will  seriously  affect  the  mind 
of  the  world,  shape  policies  of  governments, 
and  compel  all  governments  to  continue  mili- 
tary programs  for  possible  contingencies. 

The  Peace  Congress,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  nations  which  were  at  war 
with  Germany,  met  in  Paris,  January  18, 1919, 
to  formulate  a  treaty  of  peace.  Among  other 
commissions  the  Congress  appointed  a  Com- 

66 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

mission  to  draw  up  a  plan  or  constitution  for 
a  League  of  Nations,  the  purpose  of  which 
should  be  to  establish  a  tribunal  for  the  ad- 
justment of  international  disputes  and  the 
prevention  of  war.  On  February  4, 1919,  this 
Commission  held  its  first  session,  and  finished 
its  task  February  13.  The  next  day  the  draft 
of  the  covenant  was  presented  by  President 
Wilson  to  the  plenary  session  of  the  Peace 
Congress.  In  presenting  the  document  Presi- 
dent Wilson  said: 

A  living  thing  is  born,  and  we  must  see  to  it  wliat 
clothes  we  put  on  it.  It  is  not  a  vehicle  of  power,  but 
a  vehicle  in  which  power  may  be  varied  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  those  who  exercise  it  and  in  accordance  with 
the  changing  circumstances  of  the  time.  And  yet  while 
it  is  elastic,  while  it  is  general  in  its  terms,  it  is  definite 
in  the  one  thing  that  we  were  called  upon  to  make 
definite.  It  is  a  definite  guarantee  of  peace.  It  is  a 
definite  guarantee  by  word  against  aggression.  It  is  a 
definite  guarantee  against  the  things  which  have  just 
come  near  bringing  the  whole  structure  of  civilization 
into  ruin. 

President  Wilson  was  followed  by  Lord 
Kobert  Cecil,  head  of  the  British  delegation  on 
the  Commission.     He  said : 

The  results  accomplished  embraced  two  main  prin- 
ciples— first  no  nation  shall  go  to  war  until  every  other 
means  of  settlement  shall  be  fully  and  fairly  tried; 
second,  no  nation  shall  forcibly  seek  to  disturb  a  terri- 

67 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

tory's  integrity  or  interfere  with  the  political  independ- 
ence of  the  nations  of  the  world. 

Lean  Bourgeois,  representing  France,  Pre- 
mier Cl^menceau,  Baron  Makino  of  Japan, 
Premier  Hughes  of  Australia,  Premier  Veni- 
zelos  of  Greece,  and  several  others  spoke  ap- 
proving words,  but  with  certain  reservations 
in  mind. 

Thus  was  launched  upon  the  uncertain  sea 
of  public  opinion  another  of  the  most  impor- 
tant political  documents  in  the  world.  The 
longing  for  peace,  which  during  the  war  was 
often  declared  by  the  chancelleries  of  the 
belligerent  nations,  as  well  as  by  the  people, 
found  official  expression  in  that  covenant.  On 
the  face  of  it,  and,  indeed,  in  the  heart  of  it,  it 
seemed  to  be  what  it  purported  to  be  in  its 
Preamble.  Lord  Cecil  plainly  stated  its  funda- 
mental purpose — the  settlement  of  interna- 
tional controversies  and  the  prevention  of  war. 

It  seems,  however,  that,  notwithstanding 
happiness  is  a  universal  desire  and  that  men 
everywhere  would  support  every  effort  to  ob- 
tain it,  it  is  nevertheless  among  the  deep 
mysteries  of  life  that  never  yet  was  good  pro- 
posed that  some  evil  spirit  was  not  present  at 
its  birth ;  either  to  destroy  it  in  its  infancy,  to 
mar  its  development,  or  to  defeat  its  ultimate 

68 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

purpose.  This,  at  any  rate,  appears  to  have 
been  the  case  with  the  proposed  covenant  of 
the  League  of  Nations. 

It  could  hardly  be  expected,  in  the  first 
place,  that  a  document,  written  in  the  com- 
paratively short  time  given  to  its  considera- 
tion (nine  days),  involving  as  it  does  so  many 
intricate  and  delicate  questions  of  govern- 
ment, would  be  received  with  unqualified  ap- 
proval even  though  composed  by  statesmen  of 
experience.  The  Commission  itself  which  pre- 
pared the  draft  of  it  had  not  been  in  session 
four  days  before  acute  dissension  arose  among 
them.  In  England  influential  newspapers  ex- 
pressed misgivings,  and  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons Premier  Lloyd  George  found  his  worthy 
appeal  "to  take  it  seriously"  by  no  means  en- 
thusiastically received.  Though  responsible 
journals  in  France  have  since  changed  their 
tone,  on  the  day  of  its  publication  in  Paris  the 
covenant  was  immediately  attacked,  and  so 
severe  were  the  criticisms  it  was  suggested 
that  the  Peace  Congress  be  moved  elsewhere. 
The  fact  is,  so  little  confidence  in  the  League 
was  felt  by  all  parties  that  Premier  CMmen- 
ceau  would  not  accept  its  guarantees  unless  it 
was  stipulated  that  England  and  the  United 
States  should  come  to  the  aid  of  France  if  she 

69 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

"were  attacked  by  Germany.  In  Italy  and  in 
Rumania,  now  the  most  powerful  of  the 
Balkan  States,  neither  the  Treaty  of  Peace  nor 
the  covenant  of  the  League  found  whole- 
hearted support  from  either  the  governments 
or  the  people  of  those  countries.  Italy  was 
promised  territory  she  long  desired  in  Asia 
Minor  and  on  the  Adriatic  if  she  entered  the 
war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies.  Italy  entered  the 
war,  but  when  the  war  was  over  President 
Wilson  insisted  that  the  important  city  of 
Fiume,  promised  to  Italy  by  the  Treaty  of 
London,  should  go  to  the  new  state  of  Czecho- 
slovakia. Rumania  had  a  similar  promise  of 
territory,  but  this  too  was  revoked  when  the 
war  was  over,  on  the  insistence  of  President 
Wilson;  and  the  League  of  Nations'  covenant 
forever  guarantees  the  boundaries  thus  fixed 
as  the  new  map  of  Europe.  France,  the  friend 
of  Italy,  finds  herself  obligated  by  this 
covenant  to  fight  Italy  should  she  attempt 
to  annex  Fiume.  Rumania  seized  Budapest 
notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the  peace 
powers,  and  was  supported  by  public  opinion 
in  France  and  Italy.  In  Germany  it  could 
not  be  expected  that  the  covenant  would  be 
approved,  since  it  would  compel  her  to  confirm 
the  loss  of  her  colonies  and  the  carving  of  her 

79 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

empire  in  Europe  for  the  making  of  the  new 
states  of  Poland  and  Czeeho-Slovakia,  as  fixed 
in  the  Treaty  of  Peace. 

In  the  United  States  the  political  atmos- 
phere was  charged  with  debate.  The  un- 
fortunate antagonism,  which  had  grown  to 
open  hostility  between  the  President  and  the 
Senate,  awakened  critical  interest  in  the  re- 
quirements of  the  covenant.  The  President,  it 
was  stated,  had  ignored  the  counsel  of  the 
Senate  and  the  suggestions  of  eminent  Ameri- 
can statesmen.  When,  therefore,  the  official 
text  of  the  plan  was  laid  before  that  body  for 
ratification  without  amendment  or  reserva- 
tion, it  was  at  once  attacked,  and  one  of  the 
bitterest  controversies  ever  known  in  the 
Senate  raged  around  its  obligations  and  their 
implications  which  the  United  States  govern- 
ment would  be  compelled  to  assume,  should 
the  covenant  be  adopted  without  reservations. 
The  Senate  of  the  United  States,  which  has 
equal  power  with  the  President  in  the  making 
of  treaties,  had  signed  treaties  before  with  cer- 
tain definite  reservations  such  as  the  Algeciras 
Treaty  and  the  "Hague  Convention  of  1907," 
and  no  ulterior  motives  were  attributed  to 
the  Senate  on  making  them.  Since  this 
Covenant  of  Nations  involved  a  departure 

n 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

from  the  traditional  policy  of  noninterference 
in  the  political  questions  of  foreign  states,  the 
Senate,  while  in  favor  of  a  League,  therefore 
would  not  give  unqualified  indorsement  to  a 
covenant  which  necessarily  demanded  a  rever- 
sion of  that  policy.  It  was  argued  that  adop- 
tion of  the  covenant  was  in  fact  and  principle 
a  surrender  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States  to  the  authority  of  the  Executive  Coun- 
cil of  the  League,  a  kind  of  supergovernment 
which  would  function  over  all  governments 
signatory  to  the  covenant.  And  not  only  so, 
but  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  by  the  terms 
of  the  covenant  the  Council  could  only  advise 
what  a  nation  should  do  in  a  particular  crisis, 
nevertheless,  if  the  Council  should  "advise" 
war  against  a  recalcitrant  state,  the  United 
States  would  be  compelled  by  its  moral  obliga- 
tions in  the  League,  and  not  by  the  American 
Congress  acting  under  the  Constitution,  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  and  fight  on  foreign  soil. 

On  the  other  side,  the  supporters  of  the  ad- 
ministration showed  that  every  state  signing 
any  treaty  does  by  that  act  limit  its  sov- 
ereignty, but  does  not  thereby  surrender  it; 
that  what  other  governments  had  done  with- 
out diminishing  their  authority  or  loss  of 
dignity  in  adopting  the  League  of  Nations  for 

72 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

the  sake  of  peace,  which  would  be  practically 
guaranteed  by  such  a  coalition,  the  United 
States  should  also  do  for  the  sake  of  humanity, 
and  thus  by  a  mighty  alliance  of  all  the  great 
powers  bring  in  a  new  era  for  the  world.  Thus 
the  battle  raged.  Finally,  after  a  long  and 
stormy  debate  of  four  months,  on  November 
20,  1919,  ten  reservations  were  adopted  by  a 
committee  of  the  Senate  despite  all  that  the 
President  and  the  administration  forces  could 
do  to  prevent  such  action.  Such  at  present 
(February  18)  is  the  fate  of  that  document 
upon  which  rested  as  upon  former  peace  plans 
the  hope  of  perpetual  peace. 

An  impartial  mind  perhaps  will  be  slow  to 
assign  the  blame.  Perhaps  the  Constitution 
itself  is  to  blame,  since  it  makes  no  provision 
for  dissolution  of  a  deadlock  between  the 
President  and  the  Senate.  Many  causes  con- 
tributed to  the  debacle.  The  failure  to  ratify 
probably  will  be  attributed  in  the  final 
analysis  to  some  particular  individual,  to  the 
conditions  of  membership  in  the  League,  to  the 
opposition  of  influential  senators  to  any 
League,  or  finally  to  the  reluctance  of  the 
American  people  to  risk  the  experiment. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  doing  a  right  thing  in 
a  wrong  way. 

73 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

The  indisputable  facts  are  that  the  plat- 
forms of  both  national  parties,  Republican 
and  Democratic,  declared  for  a  League  of 
Nations,  and  the  public  declarations  of  sena- 
tors of  both  parties  expressed  the  same  desire. 
Therefore,  to  charge  as  one  of  the  reasons  for 
the  failure  of  the  plan  that  a  majority  of  the 
United  States  Senate  were  opposed  to  a 
League  of  Nations  in  any  form,  may  be  an 
exhibition  of  partisan  bias,  but  it  certainly  is 
not  an  exhibition  of  a  judicial  temperament. 
Those  who  voted  for  reservation  which,  it  is 
alleged,  defeated  the  plan,  held  that  it  was 
only  a  proposal  and  not  a  completed  contract, 
which  its  champions  declared  it  to  be,  but 
which  the  Senate  affirmed  it  could  not  be  until 
it  had  passed  the  Senate.  The  Senate,  there- 
fore, could  not  but  consider  it  as  open  to 
amendment  actual  or  implied,  or  else  reject 
it  altogether.  To  reject  it  was,  its  friends  as- 
serted, to  reject  the  Treaty  of  Peace  which  was 
deftly  woven  into  it.  To  accept  it  just  as  it 
was  presented,  automatically  launched  the 
United  States  upon  a  sea  it  had  never  sailed, 
delivered  the  American  government  into  the 
control  of  another  government  which  would 
have  the  authority  to  direct  its  acts  and  to  de- 
termine its  obligations.     The  friends  of  the 

74 


POLITICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

plan  blame  the  majority  in  the  Senate  for 
magnifying  minor  defects  which  could  be 
remedied  later;  for  distorting  the  advisory 
powers  of  the  League  into  peremptory  de- 
mands; for  subordinating  the  welfare  of 
humanity  to  impossible  interpretations  of  na- 
tional obligation,  and  for  insistence  upon 
theoretical  relinquishment  of  sovereignty, 
which  is  equally  shared  with  all  other  signa- 
tories to  the  League. 

But  it  makes  very  little  difference  now,  tak- 
ing what  might  be  called  a  planetary  view  of 
the  situation,  where  the  blame  lies.  The  lack 
of  unanimity  and  spontaneity  in  the  highest 
representative  body  of  the  American  people, 
the  long  and  acrimonious  debates,  the  critical 
exposure  of  its  defects  by  eminent  statesmen 
in  the  country  at  large,  will  certainly  detract 
from  the  impression  which  a  whole-hearted  ac- 
ceptance of  the  fact  would  have  made  upon  the 
mind  of  Europe.  An  emphatic  approval  of  the 
League  would  have  served  notice  to  all  the  peo- 
ples of  Europe  of  the  League's  inflexible  de- 
termination to  enforce  law  and  prevent  war. 
But  with  what  confidence  may  we  now  look 
into  the  future?  Will  the  League  of  Nations, 
with  or  without  the  United  States,  be  able  to 
maintain  the  peace  of  the  world? 

75 


CHAPTER  V 

NEED  FOR  CHRISTIAN  LEAGUE 

The  whole  world  sees  that  though  the 
United  States  should  join  the  League  with  the 
proviso  that  Congress  shall  retain  its  constitu- 
tional authority  to  declare  war  or  not,  even 
though  "advised"  to  do  so  by  the  League  Coun- 
cil, it  will  still  be  doubtful  in  the  world's 
thinking,  because  of  the  uncertainty  of  public 
opinion  and  the  complexion  of  Congress, 
whether  American  armies  will  ever  again  fight 
in  Europe.  England  and  France  will  be  re- 
garded in  European  opinion  as  having  become, 
and  in  fact  will  have  become,  the  main 
strength  of  the  League  if  such  a  League  ever 
becomes  a  reality.  In  such  case  the  League 
will  simply  have  become  an  alliance  between 
those  nations.  It  is  not  likely,  until  there  is 
some  favorable  readjustment,  that  Germany 
or  Bulgaria  or  Austria,  or  Rumania  will 
join  the  League.  They  see  at  once  that  what- 
ever question  of  boundary  may  arise  between 
Germany  and  Poland,  Serbia  and  Bulgaria, 

76 


NEED  FOR  CHRISTIAN  LEAGUE 

Hungary  and  Rumania — and  such  will  surely 
arise — their  case  is  prejudged,  since  these 
boundaries  are  already  fixed  in  the  Treaty  of 
Peace,  and  the  League  of  Nations  is  under 
solemn  obligation  to  defend  these  fixed  boun- 
daries against  "external  aggression/'  Article 
X  reads : 

The  members  of  the  League  undertake  to  respect  and 
preserve  as  against  external  aggression  the  territorial 
integrity  and  existing  political  independence  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  League.  In  case  of  any  such  aggression  or 
in  case  of  any  threat  or  danger  of  such  aggression,  the 
Council  shall  advise  upon  the  means  by  which  this 
obligation  shall  be  fulfilled. 

It  is  much  more  likely  that  the  defeated 
nations  may  come  to  an  understanding,  or 
form  some  coalition  among  themselves,  if  some 
regenerating  influence  does  not  destroy  in 
them  the  spirit  of  revenge  and  direct  the  ener- 
gies of  the  people  in  the  paths  of  peace. 

But  what  influence  or  power  can  do  this? 
The  League  of  Nations  alone  cannot  do  it, 
since  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  League  to  main- 
tain the  status  flxed  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace. 
Any  change  in  boundaries,  or  relations  of  the 
Poles,  the  Czechoslovaks,  or  the  Serbians  not 
in  harmony  with  the  "self  determination''  of 
these  states  will  be  at  once  an  abandonment 

77 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

of  the  Peace  Treaty  and  the  signal  for  revolt 
to  right  the  wrong  that  has  been  done  them. 
It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  imagined  that  the 
League  of  Nations,  the  symbol  of  force,  as  it 
is,  and  ought  to  be,  will  be  able  morally  to  re- 
generate the  people  whom  it  keeps  in  bonds  by 
display  of  arms. 

Time  and  betterment  of  industrial  condi- 
tions may  go  far  to  obliterate  the  memories  of 
the  present,  especially  when  Germany  and  her 
allies  reflect  upon  the  misery  they  brought 
upon  the  world  and  the  frightful  punishment 
they  had  laid  up  for  the  Allies  compared  to  the 
lenient  justice  the  Allies  have  meted  out  to 
them.  But,  as  an  index  to  the  mental  reserva- 
tions of  those  nations  at  present  and  their  de- 
clared purpose  in  the  future,  despite  their  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  signing  of 
the  confirmatory  League  Covenant,  the  Associ- 
ated Press  states  that  Bulgaria  meditates 
revenge. 

The  Minister  of  War  Madjaroff,  formerly 
Bulgarian  minister  to  London,  declared  that 
Bulgaria  might  for  the  moment  be  humiliated 
and  crushed,  but  she  would  rise  up  again  with 
renewed  strength — it  might  be  five  years  from 
now,  it  might  be  ten,  it  might  be  twenty,  but 
rise  she  would.    Her  "just  military  and  terri- 

78 


NEED  FOR  CHRISTIAN  LEAGUE 

torial  desires  might  be  repressed  by  the  force 
of  superior  numbers,  but  her  spirit,  which  was 
eternal,  could  not  be  suppressed  by  any  power 
on  earth."  The  Bulgarians,  he  continued, 
"were  a  patient,  forbearing  people,  with  whom 
patriotism  and  national  honor  were  a  passion. 
There  could  be  no  peace  in  the  Balkans  under 
such  an  ^unjust  territorial  arrangement'  as  the 
Peace  Conference  had  laid  down.  Bulgaria 
would  have  to  prepare  to  resist  the  invasion  of 
its  soil  by  her  hostile  neighbors,  which  sooner 
or  later  was  inevitable.  She  could  not  at- 
tain her  normal  economic,  political  or  social 
growth  under  the  ^harsh  provisions'  of  the 
treaty.  She  might  be  compelled  out  of  self- 
preservation,  if  the  terms  were  not  modified, 
to  resort  to  drastic  expedients." 

Premier  Nitti,  of  Italy,  expressed  the  dis- 
content of  his  people  when  in  November,  1919, 
he  said : 

The  war  has  ceased  for  a  year.  Ever  since  the 
Italians  have  seen  their  national  aspirations  opposed 
with  a  hardness  and  inflexibility  which  wounds  them 
profoundly.  Was  it  worth  while  to  oppose  us  so  cruelly 
regarding  Fiume?  An  irregular  situation  has  arisen 
both  in  Fiume  and  Dalmatia.  The  discontent  which  has 
blazed  up  in  our  army  and  navy  is  the  result  of  many 
errors  of  our  own,  but  above  all — I  say  it  solemnly  and 
deliberately — they  are  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the 
conduct  of  our  aUies. 

79 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Thus  Italy  has  been  sacrificed  to  the  new 
state  of  Czecho- Slovakia,  and  seed  of  future 
trouble  sown  on  the  Adriatic  as  well  as  on  the 
-^gean  Sea. 

When  one  considers  the  attitude  of  political 
Germany  and  the  avowed  determination  of  her 
leaders  not  to  respect  the  Treaty  they  signed 
any  longer  than  they  are  compelled  to,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  forecast  the  future.  How  any 
nation  with  the  record  Germany  has  of 
treaties  of  practical  servitude  imposed  upon 
Finland,  upon  Russia  at  Brest-Litovsk,  upon 
Ukrania,  upon  Rumania,  and  the  conditions 
of  peace  which  she  intended  to  impose  upon 
England,  France,  Belgium,  and  Italy,  had 
victory  crowned  her  armies — how  any  nation 
that  had  not  lost  its  soul  could  have  the  hardi- 
hood to  complain  of  the  terms  which  the  Allies 
compelled  her  to  sign,  is  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  any  mind  not  afflicted  with  that 
kind  of  mentality  peculiar  to  the  political 
leaders  of  Germany. 

But  it  is  just  in  this  abnormal  mind  the 
danger  of  all  Europe  lies.  The  leaders  com- 
plain that  the  peace  terms  "will  ruin  Ger- 
many" without  one  thought  or  sigh  of  repent- 
ence  for  the  ruin  and  death  which  Germany 
brought  to  Belgium,   to  France,   and   their 

80 


NEED  FOR  CHRISTIAN  LEAGUE 

allies.  They  complain  that  it  will  be  impos- 
sible for  Germany  to  pay  the  indemnities  laid 
upon  them,  forgetting  that  Herr  Helfferieh, 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  in  his  report  to  the 
Kaiser  in  1913,  one  year  before  the  war,  esti- 
mated Germany's  capital  wealth  amounted  to 
more  than  410,000,000,000  marks ;  and  that  her 
annual  revenue  was  50,000,000,000.  No  invad- 
ing hosts  ravaged  her  lands  nor  destroyed  her 
industries,  her  towns  and  cities;  and  if  in  the 
working  of  retributive  justice,  her  compulsory 
pledges  to  deliver  coal  to  Belgium  and  Prance 
for  a  number  of  years  will  retard  her  return  to 
prewar  conditions,  even  then  she  will  be  better 
off  in  many  respects  than  the  states  she  had 
determined  to  ruin. 

Nevertheless,  Germany  will  not  submit  to 
the  present  situation  as  a  permanent  settle- 
ment. Prussianism  still  remains.  The  same 
military  and  Junker  classes  that  brought  on 
the  war  still  influence  the  councils  of  govern- 
ment. The  attempts  to  evade  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  bode  no  good.  They  indicate  rather 
moral  bankruptcy.  The  same  tactics  which 
Scharnhorst  employed  to  nullify  the  edict 
of  Napoleon  I  as  to  the  number  of  troops  that 
Prussia  should  retain,  Germany  now  pursues. 
Professing  to  accept  the  decree  of  the  Allies 

81 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

that  her  armed  force  shall  not  exceed  one  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  the  German  government 
has  recently  passed  a  military  law  which  while 
not  actually  contravening  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  will  in  a  few  years  provide  her  with  a 
formidable  army. 

The  German  people  are  a  noble,  home-lov- 
ing, and  liberty-loving  people,  if  untainted  by 
Prussian  ambition  and  not  led  astray  by  evil 
council.  Such  a  people  when  deceived 
through  long  years  by  all  arts  of  government, 
education  and  the  press,  and  by  false  teachers 
in  government  pay,  are  easily  led  to  believe  in 
a  false  mission  and  unconsciously  assume  a 
false  character.  They  become  just  what  they 
have  shown  themselves  to  be  in  this  war  of 
f rightfulness ;  and  then,  such  is  the  astounding 
psychology  of  their  changed  nature,  that  they 
will  inquire  with  wonder  why  the  whole  world 
condemns  them  I  They  cannot  understand  that 
the  world  has  not  with  them  wholly  changed 
its  moral  character. 

Germany  must  be  born  again.  It  will  be, 
but  not  without  struggle.  If  the  present  gen- 
eration and  the  next  shall  discard  all  that  au- 
tocracy has  stood  for,  discard  the  insane  phil- 
osophies and  falsehoods  which  have  corrupted 
the  soul  of  the  people,  Germany  will  fill  a 

82 


NEED  FOR  CHRISTIAN  LEAGUE 

larger  and  a  more  permanent  place  in  history 
than  the  realization  of  her  pan-Germanic 
dreams  could  possibly  have  brought  to  her. 

But  should  she  persist  in  the  course  she  has 
pursued,  it  is  not  improbable  that  in  less  than 
fifty  years  war  will  again  resound  in  Europe. 
If  that  war  does  come,  and  it  will  come  if  not 
prevented  now,  it  will  be  a  swifter  and  a  more 
terrible  war  than  this  war.  It  will  not  be  a 
war  of  armies  on  foot,  not  a  war  of  trenches  or 
of  artillery,  except  long-range  guns ;  it  will  be 
chiefly  a  chemical  war.  The  science  of  chem- 
istry will  have  been  so  greatly  advanced  by 
new  discoveries  in  explosives,  skill  in  building,. 
air-planes,  and  the  art  of  flying  so  highly  de- 
veloped, ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
merce but  in  war  time  directed  by  wireless  and 
concentrated  by  hundreds  over  cities,  that  in 
an  hour  by  the  use  of  explosive  bombs,  in- 
cendiary bombs,  asphyxiating-gas  bombs, 
whole  cities  with  their  populations  will  be 
utterly  destroyed.  Europe  will  have  found 
her  grave  in  a  shell-hole. 


83 


CHAPTER  VI 
STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

What  can  be  done  to  prevent  such  a 
calamity?  Considering  that  the  world  has 
only  just  emerged  from  one  of  the  greatest 
cataclysms  in  history  and  is  tired  of  war,  this 
question  may  be  ignored,  or  considered  as  void 
of  immediate  interest.  The  shattered  condi- 
tion of  the  defeated  empires  is  so  hopeless,  it 
is  said,  that  any  idea  of  their  resurgence  to 
former  power,  except  in  some  far  distant 
future,  is  beyond  the  rim  of  practical  reason. 

This  possible  return,  however,  may  not  be 
so  remote  that  the  League  of  Nations  may  now 
safely  surrender  its  charter  or  suspend  its 
scrutiny  of  enemies'  plans  and  purposes. 
Short-sightedness  in  a  statesman  guiding  na- 
tional affairs  is  just  as  bad  as  color-blindness 
in  an  engineer  driving  a  locomotive.  Signals 
are  set  up  in  order  to  be  seen.  Everybody  now 
sees  that  it  was  just  this  fatuous  blindness  to 

84 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHUECH 

the  signs  of  the  times  that  came  so  near  de- 
livering the  world's  future  into  the  hands  of 
Germany.  Premier  Lloyd  George  in  an  Ad- 
dress to  the  House  of  Commons,  April  16, 1919, 
struck  this  same  highly  optimistic  note  when 
he  said : 

I  know  there  is  a  good  deal  of  talk  about  recrudes- 
cence of  the  military  power  of  Germany.  You  get  para- 
graphs about  what  Germany  is  doing,  that  she  is  going 
to  get  on  her  feet  again,  and  about  her  great  armies. 
That  is  not  the  case.  With  difficulty — that  is  our  mili- 
tary information — she  can  gather  together  eighty  thou- 
sand men  to  preserve  order. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Lloyd  George,  whom 
it  may  not  be  extravagance  to  name  the 
saviour  of  England,  stated  exactly  the  facts  as 
they  were  at  that  time;  but  already  Germany 
— such  is  the  irony  of  politics — has  passed  a 
military  law  which  if  not  denounced  by  the 
League  of  Nations  as  a  violation  of  the  Treaty 
of  Peace,  will  provide  in  a  few  years  an  army 
of  two  million.  And  it  may  be  noted  further 
that  if  the  peace  of  Europe  is  so  certainly  as- 
sured for  the  future,  why  such  compelling  ne- 
cessity for  a  League  of  Nations  at  all,  or,  at 
least,  why  such  immediate  haste  in  its  organ- 
ization? 

With  keener  insight,  or  perhaps  with  less 

85 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

regard  for  official  reticence,  the  Hon.  Winston 
Churchill  diagnoses  the  situation.     He  says: 

Do  not  let  us  forget  that  the  great,  mighty  masses  of 
the  German  and  Russian  nations  will  not  always  remain 
plunged  in  their  present  weakness  and  miseries.  At  no 
great  distance  from  the  present  time  they  will  again  be 
powerful  factors  in  the  world,  and  no  course  which  it  is 
in  our  power  to  take  can  prevent  them  from  being  so, 
even  were  that  our  wish. 

Our  greatest  danger  is  that  they  will  arise  as  the  foes 
of  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  France,  and,  joining 
hands  across  the  patchwork  area  of  the  small  but  un- 
quiet "Balkanized"  states,  will  once  again  confront  the 
Western  powers  with  a  menace  as  terrible  as  that  which 
we  faced  on  August  4,  1914.  This  danger  may  be 
averted  by  wise  policy,  but  it  is  imperative  'that  it  should 
be  realized  from  the  outset. 

Unless  we  are  able  to  set  up  a  structure  superior  to 
those  we  have  destroyed,  and  not  less  practical  and  effi- 
cient in  action,  we  cannot  possibly  expect  the  results 
of  this  war  to  remain  permanent.  The  old  empires  rose 
out  of  very  real  needs  felt  by  the  peoples  dwelling  in 
those  regions,  and  in  response  to  tremendous  forces 
working  there.  Their  ghosts  still  brood  over  the  im- 
mense battlefield,  and  unless  a  superior  structure  can 
be  created  for  Christendom  their  reincarnation  after 
fierce  birth-agonies  is  certain. 

The  question,  then,  What  can  be  done  to  pre- 
vent a  recurrence  of  war?  may  not  be  so  im- 
practicable as  to  put  it  outside  serious  con- 
sideration. 

Peace  treaties  are  no  guarantees  against 
another  conflagration.    The  universe  may  be 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHUECH 

bomb-proof,  but  Paris  is  not,  and  London  is 
not;  nor  is  the  Atlantic  Coast.  A  League  of 
Nations  is  not  stronger  insurance  than  treaties 
of  peace.  Any  power  strong  enough  to  violate 
the  one  might  think  itself  able  to  defy  the 
other.  It  may  not  get  very  far  in  its  insane 
venture,  it  may  be  annihilated  as  a  just  pun- 
ishment for  its  crime,  but  all  this  does  not  pre- 
vent war.  It  may  be  admitted  that  the  League 
does  not  propose  to  prevent  all  wars,  which 
would  be  equivalent  to  abolishing  war  alto- 
gether, but  to  make  it  possible  for  nations  to 
settle  their  disputes  if  they  desire  without  re- 
sorting to  war.  But  the  Hague  Tribunal  was 
organized  for  just  such  purpose  as  that,  and 
although  it  could  not  enforce  its  decisions,  as 
the  League  of  Nations  will  be  able  to  do,  yet  if 
the  nations  would  not  obey  that  Supreme 
Court  of  the  World  without  compulsion,  it  is 
an  attenuated  hope  that  threat  of  war  will 
force  them  to  obey  the  verdict  of  the  League. 
The  truth  is  that  no  threat  of  war  can  restrain 
the  passions  of  a  people  when  excited  by  patri- 
otism to  the  pitch  of  martyrdom. 

The  next  truth  is  that  while  the  League  of 
Nations  may  do  much  to  prevent  war,  it  can- 
not eradicate  the  desire  for  war.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  absolutely  essential  that  the 

87 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

physical  power  of  the  League  shall  be  supple- 
mented by  a  spiritual  power,  some  mighty  re- 
generating influence  which  by  its  appeal  to  the 
souls  of  men  shall  be  able  to  cool  superheated 
passions,  and  for  treasured  wrong  substitute 
desire  for  justice  and  not  revenge,  for  peace 
and  not  war. 

Now  the  only  power  or  agency  that  can  do 
this  is  the  Universal  Church  of  God,  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  no  other  higher  moral 
agency.  There  is  no  conceivable  other;  and 
if  the  League  will  endure,  it  must  be  this.  The 
League  cannot  become  an  effective  institution 
or  restraining  force  in  future  history,  without 
the  power  of  religion  to  support  it.  After  all, 
the  mightiest  and  the  most  permanent  force  in 
human  history  is  religion.  Even  Robespierre 
had  to  bring  God  back  to  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, after  the  Convention  had  bowed  him  out. 
There  must  be  moral  sanction,  there  must  be 
the  compelling  power  of  conscience,  a  spir- 
itual, collective  purpose  unifying  the  masses 
of  the  nation,  generated  and  sustained  by  re- 
ligious inspiration,  before  a  whole  nation, 
with  all  its  complex  interests  and  activities, 
political,  social,  and  commercial,  will  give,  or 
can  give,  the  full  weight  of  its  concentrated 
power  in  support  of  any  political  or  social 

88 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

movement  vitally  related  to  its  deepest 
interests. 

But  without  the  support  of  the  people  in 
every  nation  in  Europe,  and  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  such  a  League  cannot  be 
permanent  or  effective.  And,  on  the  other 
hand,  without  the  stimulus  of  religion  and  the 
power  of  it  uniting  the  people  around  a  com- 
mon purpose,  fusing  heterogeneous  and  con- 
flicting beliefs  and  prejudices  of  the  various 
nationalities  in  support  of  the  ideal,  the 
masses  of  the  peoples  will  have  no  united  sup- 
port to  give. 

What,  then,  is  the  remedy?  The  remedy  is 
a  Christian  league,  a  league  of  Christendom 
supplementing  the  political  League  of  Nations. 
Such  a  League  of  all  churches,  Greek,  Russian, 
Protestant,  Roman,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  in- 
stilling in  all  classes  and  in  all  governments 
the  principles  of  Christian  brotherhood  and 
demanding  equal  justice  for  all,  will  do  more 
to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  war  than  any 
coalition  of  governments,  or  peace  leagues  ever 
organized. 

The  Church  of  God  in  its  world  mission 
can  do  no  greater  service  to  humanity  than 
this :  to  align  itself  with  all  its  spiritual  might 
and  educational  forces  in  all  lands  and  among 

89 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

all  peoples,  races  and  tongues,  on  the  side  of 
men  who  are  endeavoring  to  establish  uni- 
versal and  perpetual  peace  on  the  earth.  If 
ever  there  was  an  expression  of  the  will  of 
God  out  of  the  skies  concerning  the  social  re- 
lations of  man,  "Peace  on  earth,  good  will 
toward  men" — a  league  of  the  nations,  a 
league  of  Christendom — ^is  the  embodiment  of 
it.  The  Church  of  God  cannot  do  less  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  kingdom  of  God  than  the 
governments  of  the  earth. 

If  the  church  should  determine  not  to  aid 
governments  in  their  efforts  to  establish  uni- 
versal peace  by  definite  committal  of  herself  to 
this  task,  but  falls  back  into  an  attitude  of 
indifference,  and  supinely  submits  to  what 
happens,  thus  separating  herself  in  selfish  iso- 
lation from  the  world,  and  interested  only  in 
the  heavenly  world  where  there  are  no  lonely 
homes  or  bloody  battlefields,  she  will,  as 
certain  as  gravity,  lose  this  world,  since  she 
apostatizes  from  the  teachings  of  her  Lord  to 
"disciple  all  nations."  In  such  case  what 
Israel,  and  what  the  church  of  former  epochal 
times  failed  to  do,  the  church  of  the  twentieth 
century  will  deliberately  refuse  to  do.  She 
deliberately  repudiates  her  historical  calling, 
and  so  far  ceases  to  be  the  organ  of  the  Holy 

90 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

Spirit  for  realizing  the  purpose  of  God  in 
bringing  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  may  be  that  the  church  will  do  this.  It 
may  be  that  shortsighted  leaders  of  churches 
in  Europe  and  in  America  may,  under  divers 
influences,  adopt  a  narrow  view  of  the  nature 
of  the  church,  its  place  and  purpose  in  history, 
and  declare  that  the  church  should  not  "mix 
in  politics,"  that  our  Lord's  kingdom  is  "not  of 
this  world,''  that  "Christ  must  come  before  the 
world  gets  better,"  and  thus  in  times  of  re- 
ligious interest  lead  the  thought  of  the  church 
away  by  Jewish  notions  from  the  larger  con- 
cept of  the  world's  social  and  political  re- 
demption. But  "Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth," 
said  Jesus.  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." 
Therefore,  if  such  unscriptural  teachings  con- 
cerning the  mission  of  the  church  in  the  world 
as  indicated  should  prevail  to  any  large  extent, 
there  is  nothing  visible  so  far  as  human  eye 
can  see  for  the  world  but  constantly  recurring 
clashings  of  selfish  interests,  social  disturb- 
ances, wars,  steady  decline  of  morals  and  slow 
deterioration  of  civilization.  The  world  un- 
leavened by  the  Christian  spirit,  "the  salt  of 
the  earth,"  will  go  staggering  along  its  hope- 
less way  simply  repeating  the  experience  of 
Rome  in  its  decadence,  despite  all  that  the 

91 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Stoic  philosophy  could  do  to  arrest  its  fall ;  the 
story  of  France  on  the  eve  of  the  Revolution ; 
of  England's  moral  degradation  in  the  same 
period,  and  of  every  country  where  the  church, 
withdrawing  herself  from  the  life  of  the  world, 
contrary  to  the  teachings  of  her  Lord,  or  her- 
self becoming  corrupted,  has  failed  with  heal- 
ing touch  to  remedy  the  ills  of  society  or  to 
disinfect  in  unwholesome  centers  the  sources 
of  pollution. 

But  the  church  will  also  deteriorate.  She 
is  in  the  world  and  the  world  reacts  upon  her, 
so  that  she  will  either  conquer  the  world  or  be 
conquered  by  it.  Failing  to  subdue  the  spirit 
of  the  world,  since  we  "wrestle  not  against 
flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities, 
against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  dark- 
ness of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wicked- 
ness in  high  places,"  the  church,  withdrawing 
from  the  world,  will  have  no  mission  to  the 
world,  and  therefore  no  reason  for  her  exist- 
ence. Thus  she  will  prepare  the  way  histor- 
ically for  her  removal.  "The  end  of  the  times 
of  the  Gentiles''  will  have  come,  the  passing 
of  the  church  of  the  Gentiles.  But  the  idea  of 
God  implanted  from  the  beginning  in  human 
history  will  not  pass.  By  many  providential 
ways,  religious  and  political,  now  but  faintly 

92 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

seen,  other  latent  means  for  realizing  the  pur- 
pose of  God,  other  religious  forces  now  exist- 
ing side  by  side  with  the  Christian  Church, 
may  have  their  chance  and  will  accomplish  the 
purpose  of  God  which  the  Gentile  Christian 
Church  had  failed  to  do.  The  Jew  is  God's 
reserve. 

Now,  the  state  exists  in  order  to  execute  the 
will  of  the  people.  The  church  exists  in  order 
to  execute  the  will  of  God.  As  the  people  are, 
so  will  the  state  in  general  be ;  that  is,  its  char- 
acter, its  morals  national  and  international, 
will  in  all  realms  of  political  activity  reflect 
more  or  less  the  spirit  of  the  people  which  sup- 
port it.  It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  the  church, 
aside  from  its  special  mission  in  the  salvation 
of  the  individual,  to  bring  all  men  into  right 
relationship  with  God,  in  order  that  the  state 
may  be  a  moral  state,  and  that  by  the  proper 
exercise  of  its  powers  in  social  development  it 
may  create  an  environment  in  which  men  can 
live  in  harmony  with  the  new  life  within  them, 
an  environment  which  shall  afford  free  scope 
for  the  exercise  of  Christianity  without  con- 
flicting forces  or  conditions,  tolerated  or  legal- 
ized by  the  state,  nullifying  the  moral  and 
spiritualizing  influences  at  work  for  subject- 
ing the  whole  life  of  man  to  the  divine  will. 

93 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

With  the  growth  of  Christian  sentiment  and  a 
clear  perception  of  the  evil  effect  of  vice  upon 
a  people,  the  state  endeavors  now  to  do  this 
in  its  efforts  to  eradicate  intemperance, 
ignorance,  and  social  vices.  The  church  also 
everywhere  sees  that  it  is  her  duty  to  aid  the 
state  in  creating  such  social  conditions  that 
social  heredity  shall  operate  for  the  transmis- 
sion of  the  good  and  not  for  the  perpetuation 
of  evil. 

But  if  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  thus  to  aid 
the  state  in  its  internal  administration,  how 
can  the  conclusion  be  avoided  that  it  is  also 
the  duty  of  the  church  to  aid  the  state  in  its 
relations  with  all  other  peoples?  Must  the 
Church  of  God  here  part  company  with  the 
state,  and,  leaving  the  destiny  of  the  nation 
and  the  fate  of  other  peoples  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  statesmen  influenced  by  divers  considera- 
tions, to  a  chauvinistic  press,  to  the  interplay 
and  designs  of  financial  interests,  tamely  sub- 
mit to  the  decrees  of  these  statesmen  acting  for 
the  state?  Is  it  not,  rather,  the  duty  of  the 
church  to  create  in  every  country  a  state  of 
mind  which  will  aid  the  government  in  pre- 
serving amicable  relations  with  all  other  gov- 
ernments, since  we  are  related  to  all  other 
governments,  and  prevent  it  from  plunging 

94 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

the  nation  into  war  for  any  purpose  other  than 
resistance  of  invasion? 

This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  in  any 
country  the  church  in  a  time  of  danger  should 
put  itself  in  opposition  to  the  government,  and 
thus,  by  creating  division  among  the  people, 
weaken  the  power  of  the  state.  Nor  does  it 
mean  that  a  flabby  pacificism  should  be  taught 
the  people,  or  that  the  church  should  encour- 
age so-called  conscientious  objectors,  whose 
objection  is  not  to  the  enjoyment  of  benefits 
they  derive  from  their  country,  native  or 
adopted,  its  laws  and  institutions,  its  cultural 
and  industrial  opportunities,  which  in  its 
hour  of  need  they  will  not  defend,  but  to  the 
dangers  and  inconveniences  they  may  have  to 
endure.  Such  people  should  be  disfranchised, 
and  deprived  of  every  right  for  which  other 
men  suffer  and  die.  They  have  no  moral  or 
political  right  to  the  benefits  of  other  men^s 
death.  But  it  does  mean  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  church  to  create  in  every  nation  a  real 
sense  of  the  brotherhood  of  humanity,  a  desire 
for  peace,  a  hunger  for  right  understanding, 
for  love  and^mercy  that  will  prevent  war  and 
mutual  misunderstandings. 

The  chijgch  by  dii*ict  influence  upon  govern- 
ment, and  vigorous  education  of  childhood  and 

95 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

youth,  must  create  a  society  in  which  war 
shall  be  banished  from  human  thinking  and 
planning,  for  war  is  not  confined  to  actual 
slaughter  on  the  battlefield.  War  is  a  disease. 
It  is  a  state  of  mind.  It  is  a  product  of  social 
heredity.  Its  antecedents  and  concomitants 
penetrate  and  ramify  through  every  thought 
and  activity  of  society  even  in  times  of  peace, 
from  the  statesman  planning  increase  of  terri- 
tory or  of  markets,  to  the  munition  maker,  the 
manufacturer,  the  profiteer,  the  skilled  work- 
man and  day  laborer,  dreaming  of  profits  or 
increase  of  wages.  Thus  the  world-mind  is 
kept  familiarized  with  the  idea  of  war.  It  is 
habituated  by  language  and  gesture  to  think 
war,  and  in  every  nation  multiplied  thousands 
are  employed  preparing  for  the  next  confiict  at 
home  or  abroad. 

Such  a  state  of  mind  can  never  make  for  an 
unruffled  sense  of  peace  and  of  established 
security.  By  an  inward  necessity  it  must  con- 
tribute on  the  contrary  to  the  continuance  of 
that  evil  the  nations  most  dread — War. 

Man  can  never  reach  that  civilization  which 
Christian  thought  contemplates  until  war  is 
abolished  and  the  millions  yearly  expended  for 
the  maintenance  of  armaments  are  spent  for 
the  good  of  the  people.     Such  a  civilization 

96 


STATES  NEED  THE  CHURCH 

cannot  exist,  for  the  reason  that  conditions  for 
its  growth  do  not  exist.  Civilization  requires 
stability.  There  must  be  established  institu- 
tions, concord  between  nations,  freedom  of 
intercourse,  of  travel  and  of  commerce,  for 
neither  manners,  nor  art  nor  science,  neither 
education  nor  development  of  any  peaceful 
pursuit,  can  be  possible  where  there  is  unrest, 
tumult,  and  roar  of  battle,  or  a  feverish  ex- 
pectation of  change  or  disaster. 
'^0  ''  Nor  can  the  government  abolish  war  by  fiat. 
It  may  disband  armies  and  sink  its  dread- 
naughts,  but  that  would  not  banish  war.  War, 
as  stated,  is  an  attitude  of  mind,  the  welling 
up  from  the  depths  of  the  human  spirit  of  the 
desire  for  revenge;  and  if  no  weapons  are 
available,  the  mad  impulse  to  kill  will  manu- 
facture them.  The  roots  of  violence  are  in 
the  soul  of  man,  and  no  legislation,  or  League 
of  Nations,  can  reach  the  malady.  A  stronger 
impulse  than  the  instinct  for  murder  must 
expel  this  desire  from  the  human  soul.  But 
there  exists  no  power  except  the  Church  of 
God  which,  by  cooperating  with  the  state  and 
by  its  own  spiritual  impact  upon  society,  can 
achieve  that  miracle. 

Spiritual  needs  demand  spiritual  remedies. 
The  state,  therefore,  is  incapable  of  imparting 

97 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WOKLD  PEACE 

that  spiritual  power  necessary  to  that  mental 
regeneration  which  will  resort  to  the  tribunal 
of  Justice,  rather  than  to  war,  for  the  redress 
of  wrongs.  The  state  does  not  possess  such 
power,  and  has  no  means  by  which  it  could 
transmit  it,  if  it  possessed  it.  The  state  can 
touch  the  outside  but  never  the  inside.  The 
church  alone  is  the  divinely  ordained  instru- 
ment for  the  spiritualizing  of  the  nations,  and 
it  alone  can  reach  the  cause  of  the  world's 
trouble.  Under  God  it  possesses  both  power 
and  means  for  this  regeneration,  and  to  do  this 
is  the  mission  of  the  church  in  human  history. 
For,  as  Dr.  James  Orr,  in  The  Christian  View 
of  the  World,  rightly  inquires,  "What  did 
Christ  come  for  if  not  to  impart  a  new  life  to 
humanity,  which,  working  from  within  and 
outward,  is  destined  to  transform  all  human 
relations — all  family  and  social  life,  all  in- 
dustry and  commerce,  all  art  and  literature, 
all  government  and  relations  among  peoples 
till  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ?" 

Consider,  then,  the  church  and  the  idea  of 
the  kingdom  which  war  prevents  from  being 
realized  in  national  and  international  affairs. 


98 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  MISSION  OF  ISEAEL 

Whatever  world- view  philosophical  histori- 
ans may  have  of  human  destiny,  to  the  Chris- 
tian thinker  the  goal  of  history  is  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  conviction 
rests  upon  belief  in  a  divine  purpose  in  crea- 
tion, taught  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  confirmed 
by  the  moral  progress  of  humanity.  To  those 
who  exclude  final  causes  from  their  conception 
of  the  universe,  the  idea  of  a  superintending 
God  in  human  affairs  has,  of  course,  no  stand- 
ing in  a  world  governed  by  physical  law. 
Such  see  no  march  of  law  and  reason,  of  social 
progress  and  culture  under  the  guidance  of 
Providence.  Blending  in  their  monism  the 
spiritual  with  the  physical,  they  so  connect 
the  human  with  inanimate  nature  that  the 
laws  which  govern  matter  also  determine  the 
social  and  moral  conditions  of  man,  and  there 
is  set  before  him  no  higher  destiny  than  that 
which  may  be  worked  out  by  the  uniform  oper- 

99 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

ation  of  physical  law.  There  is  no  meaning 
in  history;  it  is  a  purposeless  ocean-swell  of 
human  endeavor,  an  eternal  alternation  of  de- 
velopment and  decay. 

Christianity  cannot  thus  look  upon  the 
world's  life.  No  event  is  without  significance 
or  relation,  near  or  remote,  to  the  thoughtful 
Christian.  As  the  prophets  of  Israel  pon- 
dered the  vision  relative  to  national  destiny 
and  the  dawn  of  universal  deliverance  in  the 
coming  of  the  King  and  Redeemer,  the  Chris- 
tian philosopher  will  have  practical  interest 
in  the  theories  and  systems  which  dominate 
human  thought,  in  the  purposes  and  methods 
of  civil  governments,  the  acts  of  parliaments 
and  the  movements  of  armies,  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  explorer  and  the  success  of  the 
missionary,  the  progress  of  ideas,  the  nature 
of  reforms,  and  the  play  of  social  and  political 
forces.  He  will  be  actuated  in  this  not  for  the 
purpose  of  indulging  mathematical  caprice 
and  inventing  prophecies,  but  because  all  that 
is  to  be  is  now,  because  the  new  is  involved  in 
the  old,  and  all  that  is  has  relation  to  the  king- 
dom of  God.  As  invisible  mist  evolves  into 
visible  clouds,  the  antichrist  of  the  future  and 
the  golden  age  of  prophecy  will  be  historically 
developed  from  corresponding  elements  previ- 

100 


THE  MISSIO:n:  of  ISRAELS^  .,;  : 

ously  existing,  from  principles  now  operating 
in  human  society.  These  by  the  ordinary 
working  of  moral  laws  will  reach  their  ulti- 
mate realization  as  depicted  in  prophecy,  in 
the  fullness  of  time.  Hence  all  human  ac- 
tivity, even  the  chronic  evils  of  the  race,  its 
poverty,  ignorance,  sin,  and  consuming  dis- 
quietude and  wretchedness,  have  import  as 
potent  momenta  in  hastening  or  retarding  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

This  idea,  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  of  heaven, 
in  its  earthly  manifestation,  is  the  will  of  God 
reigning  in  the  souls  of  men,  a  state  of  society 
in  which  obedience  to  that  will  shall  be  recog- 
nized as  the  normal  condition  of  society,  the 
determining  motive  in  individual,  social,  state, 
and  civic  activities. 

Like  the  promise  of  the  final  triumph  of 
good  over  evil  to  the  fallen  pair  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  this  idea  of  the  kingdom,  the  purpose 
of  God,  enters  human  history  at  the  very  be- 
ginning and  never  disappears.  Like  the  Gulf 
Stream  flowing  within  its  own  bounds  in  the 
oceans,  never  mingling  its  waters  with  them 
nor  lost  in  their  depths,  it  persists  through  all 
changes  and  revolutions  of  time,  through  all 
crises  and  epochs  in  the  world^s  history. 

In  the  Scriptures,  as  if  looking  at  a  pageant 

101 


.  ;  T^^  OpfURCJH:  A¥D  WORLD  PEACE 

or  a  moving  picture,  we  see  this  idea  entering 
world  life  in  the  Morning  of  Time,  imbedding 
itself  in  primitive  belief,  and,  in  process  of 
time  and  migrations  of  races,  becoming  tradi- 
tion, or  myth  in  ethnic  faiths.  Among  the 
Hebrews  it  is  preserved  as  the  promise  of  a 
Leader  or  as  a  Deliverer,  and  when  in  the  run 
of  centuries  these  custodians  of  revelation 
come  in  contact  with  world-powers  and  realize 
the  political  downfall  of  their  nation,  it  efflo- 
resces in  prophecy  as  the  Messianic  Hope. 
Finally,  its  full  significance  having  been  mani- 
fested in  Jesus,  its  long  struggle  with  evil 
forces  depicted  in  apocalyptic  vision,  its  glori- 
ous triumph  over  all  enemies  in  its  course 
through  history  is  proclaimed  at  last  in  the 
heavens :  "For  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth  are 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his 
Christ." 

It  would  be  an  unwarranted  blunder  to  con- 
fuse the  Jewish  dream  of  a  millennium  with 
the  kingdom  of  God.  They  are  not  identical. 
The  affirmation  of  a  millennium  as  a  redemp- 
tive agent  cannot  be  accepted,  for  if  there  is 
such  a  golden  age  for  the  Christian  Church,  it 
can  be  considered  only  as  a  result  and  not  as 
a  cause.  Indeed,  it  would  seem,  following 
sound  reason,  that  if  this  world  cannot  be 
102 


THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL 

morally  subdued  except  by  the  personal  com- 
ing of  Christ,  Christianity,  as  a  world-saver, 
is  certainly  a  failure,  since  the  Holy  Ghost, 
operating  in  and  through  the  church,  is  un- 
able to  overcome  the  forces  of  evil — a  con- 
clusion which  itself  would  discredit  the 
spiritual  nature  of  Christianity.  Christian 
eschatology  will  be  rather  slow  in  teaching 
such  doctrine,  and  with  eighteen  centuries  of 
Christian  victories  over  all  forces  behind  it, 
it  will  not  abandon  hope  in  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  the  cross  in  every  land,  the  final 
sovereignty  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  over 
the  heart  and  intellect  of  the  nations. 

Christianity  has  nothing  greater  to  accom- 
plish in  the  future  than  it  already  has  achieved 
in  the  past.  The  paganism  of  the  future  can- 
not be  worse  or  stronger  than  the  paganism 
it  conquered.  There  never  will  be  another 
Greece,  another  Roman  empire  whose  im- 
perial eagles  shall  guard  the  idolatrous  fane. 
It  was  Christianity  that  shook  the  gods  from 
Olympus;  that  without  arms  overcame  all 
arms;  that  carried  the  truth  into  Caesar's 
household;  that  changed  Roman  law,  put  an 
end  to  the  shows  of  the  arena,  founded  chari- 
ties, elevated  woman,  protected  children,  un- 
dermined   slavery,    established    universities, 

103 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

civilized  western  Europe,  transformed  its 
numerous  tribes,  and  produced  the  liberty,  the 
peace,  the  normal  consciousness  and  the 
grandeur  of  modern  civilization,  despite  in- 
herited tendencies  derived  from  past  ages  to 
resist  divine  light  and  to  dwell  in  darkness. 

Millenarianism  is  out  of  harmony  with  di- 
vine methods  in  human  history.  Whatever 
involves  a  constant  miracle  in  the  ethical  de- 
velopment of  the  kingdom  of  God  may  be  dis- 
carded as  wanting  in  the  divine  element.  Such 
a  miracle  would  be  no  miracle.  The  millen- 
nium which  is  to  come  will  be  the  outgrowth 
of  the  labors  of  the  church  of  to-day  and  of 
yesterday,  and  in  this  practical  view,  which 
harmonizes  with  the  teachings  of  our  Lord 
himself,  is  the  inspiration  to  toil  in  the  vine- 
yard. 

Now,  every  idea,  whether  in  the  mind  of 
man  or  of  God,  that  is  to  be  realized,  must 
find  embodiment  in  time  and  space,  that  is,  in 
History.  The  body,  or  agent,  in  which  the 
Divine  Idea  of  the  kingdom  seeks  to  clothe 
itself  is  the  church.  The  church  is  not  the 
kingdom,  but  it  is  selected  and  designed  to  be 
an  expression  of  the  kingdom.  Its  function 
in  history  is  to  bring  humanity  within  the 
sway  of  the  sovereignty  of  God.     Beginning 

104 


THE  MISSIOI^  OF  ISRAEL 

with  the  individual,  on  a  national  scale,  say 
Abraham,  as  nature  begins  with  the  ion  or 
molecule  to  build  the  universe,  its  field  is  the 
world.  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took,  and  hid  in  three 
measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leav- 
ened/' 

"According  to  Darwinism,"  says  John  Fiske 
in  his  Destiny  of  Man,  page  19,  "the  creation 
of  man  is  still  the  goal  toward  which  nature 
tended  from  the  beginning.  Not  the  produc- 
tion of  any  higher  creature,  but  the  perfect- 
ing of  humanity  is  the  glorious  consummation 
of  nature's  long  and  tedious  work.  He  who 
has  mastered  the  Darwinian  theory,  he  who 
recognizes  the  slow  and  subtle  process  of  evo- 
lution as  the  way  God  makes  things  come  to 
pass,  must  ...  see  that  in  the  deadly  struggle 
for  existence  which  has  raged  for  countless 
aeons  of  time,  the  whole  creation  has  been 
groaning  and  travailing  together  in  order  to 
bring  forth  that  last  consummate  specimen  of 
God's  handiwork,  the  human  soul." 

In  almost  similar  words  one  might  de- 
scribe the  imponderable  forces  working  in 
history  to  bring  forth  the  kingdom  of  God 
through  the  church.  For  only  to  the  extent 
that  this  kingdom  is  realized  in  the  soul  of 

105 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

humanity  does  man  justify  the  "countless 
aeons  of  time"  necessary  to  produce  him.  Na- 
ture brings  the  human  soul  so  far  and  then 
turns  it  over  for  its  final  development  to 
supernature.  If,  then,  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  an  active  idea  is  not  as  real  in  history  as 
are  the  forces  of  evolution  in  the  physical 
world,  and  if  its  purpose  is  not  to  be  actually 
realized  in  human  history  as  a  vital  part  of 
the  whole  program  of  creation,  then  not  only 
the  church  but  nature  itself  has  failed  in  its 
ultimate  purpose,  since,  notwithstanding  all 
its  efforts  through  "countless  aeons  of  time," 
it  has  failed  at  last  to  reach  its  ultimate  goal, 
and  instead  of  all  cosmic  forces  thus  working 
for  the  highest  end,  as  the  apostle  Paul  says, 
and  science  demonstrates,  they  end  in  ever- 
lasting futility — for  without  God  what  is  the 
human  soul? 

The  church,  thought  of  as  the  embodiment 
of  an  idea,  is  a  product  of  selection.  What- 
ever doubt  there  may  be  among  scientists  as 
to  the  fact  and  importance  of  natural  selec- 
tion as  among  the  chief  factors  in  evolution, 
there  can  be  little  doubt,  with  historical  facts 
in  evidence,  that  there  is  some  such  law  of 
moral  selection  functioning  in  human  history. 
The  empires  of  Egypt,  of  Babylon,  Rome,  and 

106 


THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL 

the  Isles  of  Greece  were  not  accidents.  They 
seem  to  have  appeared  at  the  exact  time  for 
a  definite  purpose  and  to  have  passed  away 
when  their  mission  was  accomplished.  Each 
nation  seems  to  have  been  endowed  with  some 
particular  genius  not  possessed  by  another 
which  was  demanded  by  its  age,  or  needed  to 
initiate  some  forward  movement  in  a  succeed- 
ing period.  The  Greek,  with  his  civilizing 
spirit  and  his  taste  for  literature  and  art,  and 
the  Roman,  with  his  genius  for  law  and  or- 
ganization, illustrate  the  working  of  this 
mysterious  principle.  Shall  we,  then,  exclude 
the  Hebrew  nation,  the  church  of  the  pre- 
Christian  period,  which  in  its  special  genius 
for  religion  rose  so  far  above  all  other  nations 
of  antiquity  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 
only  spiritual  people?  Monotheism  began 
with  Abraham,  the  progenitor  of  the  Hebrew 
race,  and,  notwithstanding  national  aposta- 
sies, following  the  example  of  wicked  rulers, 
monotheism  remained  the  religion  of  the  race. 
Was  Israel's  appearance  in  history  a  mere  ac- 
cident? It  was  called  and  knew  itself  to  be 
the  chosen  race.  Did  it  have  any  mission  dis- 
tinct in  character  and  purpose  from  every 
other  nation,  as  was  the  mission  of  Rome  or 
Greece? 

107 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Whatever  view  we  may  have  of  historical 
development,  it  stands  as  a  most  remarkable 
fact  in  human  history  that  in  the  midst  of 
kingdoms  built  upon  brute  force  a  nation 
should  be  established  upon  ideas  and  sus- 
tained through  its  long  history  by  principles 
which  were  absolutely  the  reverse  of  the  po- 
litical, social,  and  military  structure  of  those 
kingdoms.  How  can  this  difference  be  ac- 
counted for  on  any  theory  of  accident,  or  upon 
any  purely  materialistic  conception  of  natural 
law?  There  was  no  soil,  no  resident  force, 
out  of  which  such  a  nation  could  spring.  Nor 
were  the  Hebrews  themselves,  degenerated  as 
they  were  by  their  slavery  in  Egypt  and  ac- 
customed only  to  the  merciless  tyranny  of 
their  masters,  different  from  other  people. 
Not  until  they  had  been  delivered  from  their 
environment,  and  the  transforming  power  of 
spiritual  ideals  had  been  imposed  upon  them, 
and  had  to  some  degree  changed  their  world- 
view,  did  the  nation  awake  to  its  chosen  des- 
tiny and  its  innate  susceptibility  to  the  high- 
est spiritual  development.  It  was  with  the 
awakening  that  the  spirit  of  the  nation  mani- 
fested itself  and  blossomed  out  in  its  mar- 
velous literature,  especially  in  those  glorious 
psalms  which  transcend  the  loftiest  reaches  of 
108 


THE  MISSION  OP  ISRAEL 

all  other  religions  and  still  voice  the  deepest 
longings  of  the  human  heart. 

Thanks  to  archaeological  researches  in  the 
East,  the  records  of  those  ages  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, Assyria,  and  Egypt,  recounting  the 
sieges,  victories,  and  bloody  deeds  of  world- 
conquerors,  show  that  ruthless  might  was 
everywhere  supreme.  And  if  the  exultations 
of  a  Shisak  or  a  Nebuchadnezzar  over  defeated 
enemies  may  be  paralleled  in  the  early  records 
of  the  Hebrew  people,  in  the  books  of  Judges 
or  of  Kings,  or  even  in  the  Psalms,  there  is 
nevertheless  underlying  the  initial  struggle 
of  a  people  fighting  for  the  land  of  their 
fathers  a  national  consciousness  created  by 
their  lawgiver  and  deliverer,  Moses,  which  we 
do  not  find  in  other  peoples,  that  the  com- 
monwealth to  be  established  later  shall  not 
be  founded  upon  military  might  and  race 
hatred  but  upon  the  imponderable  forces  of 
justice,  righteousness  and  mercy  —  eternal 
principles  according  to  which  nations  rise  or 
fall  and  which  alone  exalt  a  nation. 

It  is  this  deep  sense  of  antagonism  between 
the  moral  ideals  of  Israel  and  the  ideals  of 
the  nations  about  them,  that  essentially  dif- 
ferentiates the  Israelitish  people  from  all 
others  and  that  gives  such  meaning  and  force 

109 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

to  the  denunciation  of  the  prophets  against 
those  incarnations  of  ruthless  power,  Babylon 
and  Assyria,  Egypt  and  Moab.  All  through 
the  messages  of  the  prophets,  who  were  not 
only  religious  teachers  but  also  the  states- 
men of  Israel,  there  runs  like  a  beam  of  light 
in  the  darkness  a  conviction  that  never  falters 
that  a  day  shall  come  when  those  nations  shall 
be  destroyed  and  the  principles  they  embody ; 
that  war  shall  cease,  that  justice  and  love  shall 
be  ruling  forces,  and  nations  "shall  beat  their 
swords  into  plowshares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruninghooks." 

This  vision  of  a  better  day  is  bound  up  with 
the  Messianic  idea,  and  this  idea  is  imbedded  in 
the  soul  of  the  people.  It  is  out  of  this  chosen 
race  the  Messiah  shall  arise  and  usher  in  the 
new  world-order.  "Unto  us  a  child  is  born, 
unto  us  a  son  is  given;  and  the  government 
shall  be  upon  his  shoulder ;  and  his  name  shall 
be  called  Wonderful,  Counselor,  the  mighty 
God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of 
Peace"  (Isa.  9.  6).  "He  shall  bring  forth 
judgment  to  the  Gentiles.  He  shall  not  cry, 
nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in 
the  street.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break, 
and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench; 
he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth.    He 

110 


THE  MISSION  OP  ISRAEL 

shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  lie  have 
set  judgment  in  the  earth :  and  the  isles  shall 
wait  for  his  law"  (Isa.  42.  1-4). 

It  was  for  this  purpose  that  by  a  divine  law 
of  selection  from  all  other  races,  the  Hebrew 
people  were  called.  It  was  for  the  creation 
of  a  moral  condition  that  would  make  pos- 
sible the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  that 
Israel  was  given  the  law,  and  prophets  and 
seers  and  the  higher  revelations  of  God.  The 
statesmen  of  Israel  never  dreamed  but  that 
Israel  should  finally  conquer  her  enemies  and 
become  at  last  the  supreme  lawgiver,  the 
spiritual  teacher  of  the  nations.  Micah,  con- 
temporary with  Isaiah  and  Hosea,  declares 
(4.  1-3)  :  "In  the  last  days  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  the  mountain  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the 
hills;  and  people  shall  flow  unto  it.  And 
many  nations  shall  come,  and  say.  Come,  and 
let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and 
to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ;  and  he  will 
teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his 
paths :  for  the  law  shall  go  forth  of  Zion,  and 
the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.  And 
he  shall  judge  among  many  people,  and  re- 
buke strong  nations  afar  off;  and  they  shall 
111 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

beat  their  swords  into  plowshares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning  hooks:  nation  shall  not 
lift  up  a  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall 
they  learn  war  any  more." 

Such  a  radical  change  in  world  conditions 
as  this  foreshadows  could  result  only  from 
Israel's  successful  mission  among  the  nations. 
History  could  not  continue  under  the  rule  of 
empires  built  upon  despotism  and  maintained 
by  cruelty.  There  must  in  the  nature  of  things 
arise  some  new  order,  some  potent  agent  which 
would  be  able  to  substitute  the  spiritual  for 
the  material,  freedom  for  slavery,  and  change 
the  whole  social  system.  This  instrument 
from  the  moral  standpoint  of  the  prophets 
could  be  no  other  than  Israel,  since  no  other 
nation  possessed  those  ideas  of  liberty,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  a  spiritualized  humanity 
necessary  to  the  social  and  political  redemp- 
tion of  the  world. 

The  revelation  of  God  to  Israel  was  not 
for  Israel  alone,  nor  was  national  or  personal 
piety  an  end  in  itself.  Then,  as  now,  because 
grounded  in  the  moral  constitution  of  things, 

"Thyself  and  thy  belongings 
Are  not  thine  own,  so  proper  as  to  waste 
Thyself  upon  thy  virtues,  they  on  thee. 
Heaven  doth  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do 
112 


THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL 

Not  light  them  for  themselves;  for  if  our  virtues 
Did  not  go  forth  of  ue,  'twere  all  alike 
As  if  we  had  them  not." 

Religion  acceptable  to  Jehovah  consisted  not 
in  ^^bowing  down  the  head  like  a  bulrush," 
not  in  afflicting  one's  soul  in  selfish  delight 
that  he  is  holier  than  others,  not  in  theological 
strife  and  debate, 

"Fighting  like  demons  for  conciliation 
And  hating  each  other  for  the  love  of  God.** 

but  in  spreading  light  among  the  Gentiles 
and  in  doing  the  world's  work  from  a  motive 
born  of  love  for  God  and  Humanity.  "Is  not 
this  the  fast,"  in  contrast  to  established  ritual, 
and  formal  piety,  says  Jehovah  (Isa.,  chap 
58),  "that  I  have  chosen?  to  loose  the  bands  of 
wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  to  let 
the  oppressed  go  free  and  that  ye  break  every 
yoke?" 

Here  was  the  call  of  Israel  to  the  moral 
leadership  of  the  world.  No  higher  destiny 
was  ever  offered  to  any  people.  Do  this,  says 
Jehovah,  "AncZ  they  that  shall  he  of  thee  shall 
huild  the  old  waste  places:  thou  shalt  raise 
up  the  foundations  of  many  generations;  and 
thou  shalt  he  called  The  repairer  of  the 
breach,  The  restorer  of  the  paths  to  dwell  in/' 
Under  the  invigorating  influence  of  new  con- 
ns 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

ceptions  of  human  worth,  freedom  from  op- 
pression, deliverance  from  yokes  of  misery 
and  social  degeneracy,  civilization  shall  again 
go  forward,  ruined  cities  and  villages  de- 
stroyed by  war  and  pillage  shall  again  rise 
to  prosperity;  the  hopes  and  ideals  of  genera- 
tions shall  be  realized;  racial  hatreds  and 
divisions  shall  be  done  away;  and  the  paths 
of  peace,  obliterated  for  ages  by  ravages  of 
war,  shall  be  restored.  Henceforth  nations 
may  dwell  in  safety. 

Israel  only  could  do  this,  since  Israel  only 
had  the  oracles  of  God,  the  means  by  which 
this  could  be  accomplished.  But  Israel  failed 
in  its  mission  and  thus  entered  upon  that  slow 
but  sure  decline  of  national  power  which  in- 
evitably comes  to  every  people,  whether  Jew 
or  Roman,  Greek  or  German,  who  fail  to 
understand  their  true  mission  in  history,  or, 
apprehending  it,  pervert  it,  and,  building 
solely  for  their  own  glory,  surrender  at  last 
to  the  corroding  evils  which  their  selfish  policy 
has  engendered. 

What  might  have  been  the  effect  on  the 
course  of  history  and  its  influence  on  civiliza- 
tion had  Israel  penetrated  Assyria,  Egypt,  or 
Babylon  with  its  ethical  spirit,  it  is  idle  to 
conjecture.    But  that  those  peoples  could  be 

114 


THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL 

made  responsive  to  the  religion  of  Israel,  the 
book  of  Jonah,  whether  history  or  fiction,  and 
the  vision  of  Ezekiel  of  the  River  of  Life  fer- 
tilizing the  sandy  deserts  of  Babylonia, 
strongly  indicate.  Other  scriptures  just  as 
strongly  suggest  that  Israel  was  fully  con- 
scious of  its  duty  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
Jehovah  among  the  Gentiles. 


115 


CHAPTER    VIII 
THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

Israel  failed.  But  the  failure  of  Israel  to 
realize  the  purpose  of  God  was  not  the  failure 
of  the  idea.  The  purposes  of  God  in  history 
are  not  dependent  upon  the  success  or  failure 
of  any  particular  agency.  In  Christ  the  idea 
of  the  kingdom,  the  reign  of  God  in  the  soul 
of  humanity,  which  with  the  failure  of  Israel 
seemed  to  have  faded  away,  appeared  again 
but  in  clearer  and  brighter  light  than  was  ever 
seen  even  by  the  prophets  of  the  ancient  revela- 
tion. Jesus  came  to  inaugurate  the  kingdom. 
In  him  the  kingdom,  the  idea  of  God,  was  em- 
bodied. His  first  plangent  utterance  upon  en- 
tering his  mission  was,  ^^ Repent:  for  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  at  handJ' 

It  is  impossible  to  comprehend  the  full 
meaning  of  that  announcement  in  the  mind  of 
Jesus  and  its  significance  in  human  history, 
unless  one  keeps  before  him  the  dark  back- 
ground to  which  it  stands  in  contrast.  Baby- 
lon, Egypt,  Assyria,  imperial  Rome  —  king- 

116 


THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

doms  of  force,  embodiments  of  tyranny  over 
the  souls  and  bodies  of  men — loom  behind  this 
proclamation  of  another  kingdom,  a  kingdom 
of  love,  of  soul  freedom,  a  spiritual  kingdom, 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  is  of  remarkable  significance  that  at  the 
beginning  of  his  ministry  Jesus  should  take 
up  and  repeat  the  very  words  of  Isaiah  in 
which  that  prophet  had  announced  the  pur- 
pose of  God  in  Israel.  Jesus  takes  up  and  an- 
nounces the  continuance  of  this  idea  which 
Israel  had  abandoned,  as  the  imperishable 
purpose  of  the  designing  God  slowly  working 
through  all  the  revolutions  of  time,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  kingdoms  and  diversities  of  civil- 
izations to  establish  upon  earth  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  This  is  the  one  note  that  begins 
and  characterizes  his  whole  teaching  to  the 
day  of  his  death.  And  this  is  precisely  what 
reason,  what  the  logic  of  things,  would  ex- 
pect him  to  do,  if  he  were  the  embodiment  of 
the  idea  which  from  the  beginning  had  been 
hidden  in  the  processes  of  human  development. 
In  him  humanity  sees  its  ultimate  self.  In 
him  is  the  sum  of  all  (Eph.  1).  He  is  the 
Restorer,  since  he  alone,  as  history  has  so  far 
demonstrated,  furnished  those  ideals  which 
are  adequate  to  the  world's  redemption;  the 

117 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Healer  who  is  adequate  to  the  world's  ills,  the 
social  and  political  evils  which  corrupt  na- 
tional life  and  breed  those  bloody  revolutions 
which,  as  certainly  as  the  laws  of  action  and 
reaction,  inevitably  follow  periods  of  luxury, 
oppression,  and  vice.  He  is  the  Unifier.  He 
alone  can  heal  the  divisions  of  mankind,  unit- 
ing by  a  spiritual  bond  all  men  to  himself  and 
thus  to  each  other,  since  he,  and  he  alone,  has 
broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  be- 
tween Jew  and  Gentile,  the  invidious  distinc- 
tions between  races  which  engender  war  and 
national  hatreds  and  render  the  brotherhood 
of  Man  an  iridescent  but  idle  dream.  In  him, 
and  in  him  alone,  the  Universal  Man,  human- 
ity finds  its  common  center.  In  him  is  the 
peace  of  the  world. 

Having  laid  down  the  principles,  the  plat- 
form of  his  kingdom,  which,  while  primarily 
addressed  to  the  individual — since  humanity 
is  composed  of  individuals — like  the  Laws  of 
God  on  Sinai,  they  become  immediately  ca- 
pable of  universal  application.  Jesus  com- 
mitted these  principles  to  his  church.  ^^And 
Jesus  ca/me  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  hap- 
tizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
118 


THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

the  Sofiy  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you:  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

The  commission  of  the  church,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, is  to  the  "nations.''  The  approach  to 
the  nations  is  not  through  governments,  but 
through  individuals  comprising  the  nations. 
The  morality  or  the  spiritual  teachings  of 
Jesus  implanted  in  the  individual  must  there- 
fore, ideally,  be  the  morality  of  the  nation. 
There  cannot  be  two  moralities,  as  the  Bern- 
hardis  and  Treitschkes  affirm — one  kind  for 
the  individual  and  another  kind  for  the  state. 
The  individual  entering  the  kingdom  of  God 
must  carry  up  into  all  stations  in  life,  all  posi- 
tions in  the  state,  the  same  principles  which 
inspire  him  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy  God. 
He  cannot  be  one  person  in  public  life  or  of- 
ficial station,  and  another  in  private  life. 
Thus  will  the  leaven  "leaven  the  whole  lump" 
and  thus  only  can  "the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  his 
Christ."  Machiavelli,  Metternich,  a  Disraeli 
or  a  Bismarck,  a  Bernstorff,  or  a  congeries  of 
conspirators  in  Wilhelmstrasse  spreading 
their  network  of  villainies,  will  have  little 
hope  of  plunging  the  nations  into  blood  and 
119 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

ruin  where  the  principles  of  Jesus  have  their 
application. 

We  know  only  too  well  that  the  church 
failed  in  large  degree  to  fulfill  this  mission. 
The  reasons  for  its  failure  should  be  helpful 
in  avoiding  failure  now. 

Why  did  it  fail?  Of  all  the  reasons  alleged 
for  the  failure  of  the  primitive  church,  the 
church  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  church  of  the 
Reformation,  and  the  often  declared  failure  of 
the  modern  church  to  influence  the  whole  of 
life,  there  is  no  reason  so  devoid  of  reason  as 
that  offered  by  those  who,  curiously  enough, 
stubbornly  refuse  to  test  their  assertions,  that 
the  church  failed  because  the  ethical  teachings 
of  Jesus  are  impracticable.  His  lofty  ethics, 
they  affirm,  are  beautiful  dreams,  idyllic,  ten- 
der and  sweet  in  their  Palestinian  setting,  but 
wholly  impracticable  in  the  fierce  struggle  for 
existence  in  the  modern  day,  and  are  essen- 
tially antagonistic  to  the  social  order  of  the 
Western  world. 

Friedrich  Nauman,  author  of  Mittel- 
Europa,  in  his  Briefe  iiber  Religion,  quoted 
by  Baron  F.  Von  Hugel,  presents  this  view  in 
the  best  form.    He  says : 

We  see  Jesus,   in   the   international   empire   of  the 
Romans,  in  the  little  Jewish  corner.    Only  there  could 

120 


THE  HISTOKICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

he  arise,  only  there  did  he  arise.  .  .  .  What  Jesus  offers 
is  adoption  to  be  children  of  God  in  Galilee.  ...  I  lay- 
stress  upon  the  words  "in  Galilee.'*  .  .  .  Jesus  says 
"From  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou 
away'*  (Matt.  5.  42).  Only  those  have  a  right  to  join 
as  experts  in  the  discussion  of  this  saying  who  have 
actually  attempted  to  follow  it  literally.  Jesus  says 
"When  thou  makest  a  feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed, 
the  lame,  the  blind"  (Luke  14.  13).  Just  you  transfer 
this  directly  to  our  circumstances.  He  says  "Take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,"  ask  not  "What  shall  we  eat? 
or,  What  shall  we  drink?"  (Matt.  6.  34,  31.)  But  what 
does  our  political  economy  teach,  and  what  do  we  in- 
stil into  our  children?  Jesus  says,  "Sell  that  thou  hast, 
and  give  it  to  the  poor"  (Matt.  19.  21).  But  who  is 
ready  to  sell,  simply  to  transform  his  field  or  his  fac- 
tory into  alms?  Is  it  only  the  hardness  of  our  hearts 
and  our  innate  sinfulness,  if  we  do  not  carry  out  all 
these  injunctions  to  the  letter?  Indeed,  would  it  be  a 
good  fortune  for  anyone,  if  we  did  so?  Are  we  even 
free,  morally  free,  to  will  to  do  so?  .  .  . 

This,  our  capitalistic  world,  in  which  we  live,  because 
none  other  exists  for  us,  is  organized  according  to  the 
principle  "Thou  shalt  covet  thy  neighbor's  house!  Thou 
Shalt  will  to  gain  the  market  which  the  English  hold, 
thou  Shalt  get  the  influence  in  Constantinople  which 
the  French  possessed,  thou  shalt  produce  in  painting 
what  hitherto  appears  to  be  the  privilege  of  the  Pari- 
sians, thou  shalt  eat  the  bread  which,  in  strictness,  the 
Russian  peasant  himself  should  eat!  And  so  on,  end- 
lessly: Thou  shalt — covet!  .  .  .  All  the  moods  of  the 
gospel  only  hover,  like  distant,  white  clouds  of  longing, 
above  all  the  actual  doings  of  our  time"  (p.  65). 

Now,  there  is  not  a  scintilla  of  doubt  but 
that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  are  utterly  iinpos- 

121 


THE  CHUECH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

sible  in  the  social  order  of  the  present  day  to 
those  who  refuse  to  accept  them.  Of  course 
Jesus  is  antagonistic  to  Mammon.  Of  course 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  opposed  to  the 
jungle  law  of  Darwin.  The  trouble,  however, 
is  not  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  but  with  the 
social  order.  What  element  is  there  in  the 
present  constitution  of  society,  built  upon  this 
jungle  law  of  struggle  for  survival  of  the  fit- 
test, that  in  the  depths  of  their  souls  the  con- 
science of  men  does  not  condemn?  And  what 
element  is  there  in  the  loftiest  teachings  of 
Jesus,  whether  they  practice  them  or  not,  that 
in  the  depths  of  their  moral  nature,  and  in 
their  healthiest  and  loftiest  moments,  the  souls 
of  men  do  not  approve?  God  himself  is  im- 
practicable to  those  who  deny  him.  Jesus  is 
impracticable  to  war  lords,  to  gamblers  in  the 
people's  food  and  resources,  to  thieves,  ex- 
ploiters of  the  people;  to  the  oppressors  of 
the  hireling  in  his  wages,  breeders  of  anarchy 
and  social  ruin,  to  the  lovers  of  sybarite  lux- 
ury faring  sumptuously  every  day,  riding  with 
power  and  limitless  pride  on -the  high  places 
of  the  earth  and  treating  with  contemptuous 
arrogance  or  indifference  the  poor,  the  unfor- 
tunate, the  weak  and  the  ignorant — pitiable 
products  of  that  very  order  of  society  which 
122 


THE  HISTOEICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

is  so  bitterly  hostile  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 
Jesus  is  impracticable  to  such,  just  as  he  is 
impracticable  to  those  sons  of  Chaos,  pro- 
moters of  social  discontent,  snarling  apostles 
of  anarchy  who,  under  the  cry  of  social  justice, 
seek  murder  and  bloodshed  and  destruction 
of  property.  His  crystal-clear  sincerity  con- 
demns the  professional  propagandist  who 
never  did  an  honest  day's  work  in  his  life. 
His  simple  justice  condemns  the  cunning  ex- 
ploiter of  labor  using  the  power  of  unions  and 
associations  for  revenge  on  employers,  who, 
exercising  their  own  rights  to  personal  free- 
dom, refuse  to  recognize  incompetency  and 
savage  usurpation,  lawless  as  Bolshevism, 
as  sole  competent  judge  of  industrial  disputes. 
Jesus  is  impracticable  to  these  enemies  of  an 
honest,  wholesome  human  social  order  as 
Eternal  Justice  is;  but  to  those  who  would 
love  God  and  man  and  would  welcome  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  the  teachings 
of  Jesus  are  not  impracticable.  In  them  they 
see  universal  principles  of  righteousness  and 
not  the  petty  details  of  Pharisaic  legalism 
masquerading  as  religion. 

But  lovers  of  the  good  do  not  interpret 
Jesus  as  Nauman  does.  They  do  not  think 
that  in  order  to  live,  in  order  to  enjoy  the 

123 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

glories  of  nature,  the  refined  delights  of  cul- 
tured society,  of  literature  and  art,  of  music 
and  the  drama,  that  in  order  even  to  become 
rich  and  powerful,  to  be  a  great  capitalist,  a 
statesman  or  a  promoter  of  vast  enterprises, 
it  is  at  all  necessary  to  be  a  liar  or  a  thief,  a 
murderer,  a  debauchee,  or  an  all-around  dip- 
lomatic scoundrel ;  they  do  not  think  that  war 
and  bloodshed,  fraudulent  dealing,  political 
corruption,  hatred  of  God  and  contempt  for 
man,  injustice,  cruelty,  and  oppression  are  at 
all  necessary  to  the  development  of  civiliza- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  they  do  have  a  mighty 
conviction  that  violence  is  not  cured  by  vio- 
lence, that  purity  of  soul  is  lovelier  than  vice, 
that  love  is  better  than  hate,  that  meekness 
is  stronger  than  arrogance,  and  that  honest 
motives  expressed  in  just  deeds  are  more  in 
harmony  with  the  moral  constitution  of  hu- 
man nature,  even  though  it  be  degraded  and 
as  "ugly  as  a  fallen  angel  grown  wrinkled," 
than  is  the  hard  materialistic  philosophy  of 
self  which  is  the  curse  of  modern  life. 

Jesus  was  no  dreamer.  He  knew  the  social 
condition  of  the  millions  in  Palestine.  He  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  moral  atmosphere  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  political  conspiracies  in 
Herod's  palace  at  Caesarea.    The  royal  "fox" 

124 


THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

in  the  palace  and  the  ecclesiastical  politician 
in  the  temple  were  both  well  known  to  him, 
and  they  knew  that  he  knew  them  far  better 
than  anyone  else  knew  them.  He  who  spake 
the  parable  of  the  unjust  steward,  showing 
how  low  values  are  lifted  to  higher,  the  par- 
able of  the  pounds,  putting  premium  on  dili- 
gence, and  the  story  of  the  prodigal  son,  in 
which  chronic  discontent  against  law  and 
order  ends  at  last  in  anarchy  and  swine^s 
husks — such  a  Teacher  was  not  standing  very 
remote  from  social  unrest,  economic  problems, 
and  human  relationships. 

Jesus  was  no  Buddha.  No  one  who  lived  in 
the  midst  of  the  political  and  religious  cross 
currents  then  running  in  Palestine,  religious 
factions  kept  from  each  other's  throats  only 
by  Roman  spears,  fierce  rebellion  against 
Rome  itself  seething  in  the  hearts  of  the 
masses,  class  hatreds,  rich  against  poor  and 
poor  against  rich  —  no  one,  certainly  not 
Jesus  with  his  clear  discernment  of  social  ills 
and  impending  doom  of  the  whole  nation, 
could  be  ignorant  of  tHe  obvious  facts  of  life 
that  in  all  questions  relating  to  the  family, 
labor,  trade,  property  and  the  state,  there  are 
whole  regions  in  which  the  individual  must 
be  guided  by  experience,  and  not  by  set  rules 

125 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

which  may  or  may  not  apply  to  the  case.  This 
does  not  mean,  as  some  theologians  insist,  that 
these  various  complexes  of  life,  such  as  trade, 
the  powers  and  activities  of  the  state,  the  state 
itself,  are  in  a  totally  different  sphere  from 
the  individual  in  relation  to  religion.  But  it 
does  signify  that  if  a  man  is  actuated  by  the 
right  motives,  if  the  love  of  God  and  love  for 
his  fellows  are  dominating  factors  in  his  inner- 
most life,  his  relations  to  all  such  questions, 
infinite  in  variety,  character,  and  circum- 
stance, since  they  are  not  precisely  the  same 
to  all  men  everywhere,  may  safely  be  left  to 
his  private  judgment,  his  intellectual  and 
moral  sense. 

The  idea  that  Jesus  should  have  laid  down 
exact  rules  for  every  act  of  every  man  in  every 
conceivable  relation  in  our  complex  human 
life,  as  the  logic  of  Nauman's  criticisms  of 
Jesus's  ethics  lead  us  to,  is  to  put  the  broad 
teaching  of  Jesus  in  clamps.  Jesus  recog- 
nizes the  moral  unity  of  the  race.  He,  there- 
fore, lays  down  universal  principles.  He 
whose  motives  are  pure  will  act  purely,  he 
will  know  how,  and  when,  to  apply  these 
principles.  This  is  the  secret  of  Jesus:  he 
puts  right  motives  in  the  heart  and  turns  the 
man  loose.     ^^The  words  that  I  speak  unto 

126 


THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

yoUy^'  said  Jesus,  '^they  are  spirit,  and  they 
are  life,''  with  the  result,  as  a  French  writer 
(Monnier,  La  Mission  Historique  de  Jesus, 
page  334)  declares,  "The  religion  of  Jesus 
transformed  the  world,  not  by  the  observances 
which  he  prescribed,  but  by  the  sentiments 
which  he  inspired." 

When  Jesus  says,  "Eesist  not  evil,"  he  is 
not  inviting  disaster,  political  and  social,  to 
his  followers,  and  thereby  contributing  to  the 
perpetuation  of  evil.  He  is  not  encouraging 
strong  nations  to  attack  the  weaker,  who  by 
nonresistance  will  make  the  invasion  of  their 
country  easier;  nor  is  he  enthroning  Neros 
and  Caligulas,  or  counseling  Belgium  to  throw 
open  her  gates  to  the  invader,  though  she 
might  save  her  life  at  the  price  of  her  soul. 
He  is  not  forbidding  interference  with  Ger- 
man atrocities,  sinking  Lusitanias  and  massa- 
creing  old  women  and  children;  nor  when  he 
says,  "Whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also,"  is  he  mak- 
ing it  easy  for  brutality  to  outrage  innocence 
with  impunity — all  of  which  would  result  if 
literalistic  interpreters  of  Jesus  followed  their 
logic.  But  what  he  does  teach  is  avoidance  of 
individual  and  international  feuds,  revenge, 
reprisals,  as  of  the  old  law,  "An  eye  for  an  eye, 
127 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

a  tooth  for  a  tooth."  Wars  are  not  cured  by 
wars,  wrongs  by  wrongs.  Submission  to  per- 
sonal injury  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake 
is  better  for  the  individual  and  for  society 
than  fanning  the  flames  of  wild  revenge. 

Jesus  is  the  gospel.  The  four  gospels  are 
records.  His  life  is  the  standard  for  human 
life. 

But  considering  the  task  before  it,  the  over- 
throw of  false  religions  intrenched  for  a  thou- 
sand of  years  in  the  traditions,  the  habits  and 
customs  of  divers  races,  and  substituting 
therefor  a  purer  religion  which  created  a  new 
world,  the  church  has  not  failed  as  hadly  as 
critics  of  the  church,  who  attribute  moral 
progress  to  intellectual  advancement  only, 
would  have  us  believe.  Such  partisan  critics 
suffer  from  a  confusion  of  thought.  They 
confound  progress  with  civilization.  A  na- 
tion may  be  highly  civilized,  polished  in  man- 
ners, scientific,  inventive,  devoted  to  litera- 
ture and  the  culture  of  the  beautiful,  and  yet 
be  indifferent  toward  moral  progress,  pursu- 
ing that  ideal  of  the  perfect  Good  with  wings 
of  lead.  It  is  quite  true  that  all  progress  in 
humanizing  society  cannot  be  attributed  solely 
to  the  church.  Such  influences  as  science, 
ethics,  aesthetics  mold  the  manners  and  ex- 

128 


THE  HISTORICAL  MISSION  OF  JESUS 

pand  the  intellect,  apart  from  the  church.  But 
surveying  the  development  of  civilization  as 
a  whole  from  the  days  of  imperial  Rome  to  the 
present,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the  struggle 
toward  the  moral  ideal,  the  inspiration  to  the 
realization  of  political  freedom  for  all  men, 
and  not,  as  in  the  democracy  of  Athens,  for  the 
few.  Justice  and  Fraternity,  had  the  strong- 
est impulse  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  applied 
by  the  church  to  the  laws,  customs  and  in- 
stitutions of  the  people  among  whom  it 
labored. 

Jesus  said,  "My  words  shall  never  pass 
away."  Imperishable,  they  have  entered  the 
laws,  the  institutions,  the  civilization  of  the 
world.  The  name  of  Phidias,  it  was  said,  was 
so  chiseled  into  his  masterpiece,  the  goddess 
Athense,  that  it  could  not  be  erased  without 
destroying  the  statue.  It  is  conceivable  that, 
in  some  far  distant  age,  a  student  of  history 
from  the  valleys  of  Tibet  may  sit  down  on  the 
shores  of  the  Chinese  Sea  and  sketch  the  de- 
cline and  fall  of  Western  civilization,  but  it 
is  not  conceivable  that  the  teachings  of  Jesus 
will  ever  be  eradicated  from  the  soul  of  hu- 
manity. 


129 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

These  principles  Jesus  committed  to  his 
church,  and  his  church  challenged  the  empire. 
The  impact  of  those  ideals  upon  society  was 
the  same  in  effect  as  their  transforming  power 
is  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  He  becomes 
a  new  creature,  it  became  a  new  world.  It 
was  then,  for  a  brief  period,  like  the  coming 
of  the  sun  from  behind  a  cloud,  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  was  visible  on  earth.  Within  the 
circle  of  the  church  all  barriers  of  race  and 
birth,  of  culture  and  wealth,  were  broken 
down.  The  disciple  of  Plato  became  the 
teacher  of  hucksters  and  laborers;  the  noble 
matron  who  yesterday  urged  on  with  jeweled 
hands  bloody  combats  in  the  arena  now  min- 
istered to  the  saints ;  the  proud  patrician,  who 
looked  with  contempt  upon  barbarian  kings 
crowding  the  Appian  Way,  became  a  brother 
to  the  slave  who  was  the  bondsman  of  Jesus 
Christ.    The   democracy   of  Jesus   had  con- 

130 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

quered  the  autocracy  of  Caesar.  Its  social  mes- 
sage, as  Lecky  fitly  terms  it  (The  History  of 
European  Morals,  Vol.  II,  page  130),  was  "a 
proclamation  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of 
man.'' 

But  the  ideal  of  the  kingdom  suffered 
eclipse.  Every  great  historical  movement 
originates  in  prophetic  fire.  The  vision  of  the 
ideal  is  the  inspiration  of  the  prophet.  In  the 
soul  of  humanity  reside  latent  forces  which, 
responding  to  elemental  truths,  destroy  an- 
cient falsehoods,  overturn  the  old  order  and 
change  the  course  of  history.  Nothing  can 
resist  the  explosive  power  of  such  forces.  In 
the  beginning  the  revolution  is  characterized 
by  passionate  self-surrender  to  the  idea,  by 
contempt  for  suffering,  by  scorn  for  mockery 
and  death.  The  idea  alone  is  supreme.  No 
ties  of  blood,  no  appeal  to  self-interest,  not 
even  fear  of  death,  can  stand  between  the  dis- 
ciple and  the  realization  of  the  ideal  which  il- 
luminates him  and  transforms  him.  Its  en- 
thusiasms lift  its  apostles  to  the  highest  levels 
of  being;  the  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  out- 
cast and  the  rabble  rise  from  tombs  of  living 
death  to  new  life  and  spread  the  holy  fire; 
the  rich,  the  indolent,  the  philosopher  and  the 
clown,  the  statesman  and  the  social  reformer, 
131 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

all  classes  wearied  of  the  present  order,  are 
swept  by  its  mighty  inspirations  and  gleam- 
ing hopes  into  a  new  world  and  lift  the  age 
or  the  century  in  which  they  live  to  higher 
planes  than  ever  could  have  been  reached  by 
the  slow  process  of  social  development. 

But  every  institution,  whether  human  or 
divine,  is  sustained  solely  by  the  forces  which 
gave  it  birth.  As  these  die  it  dies.  The 
second  stage  of  the  movement  is  the  cooling 
off,  the  reflective  period.  It  becomes  a  reminis- 
cent period,  a  day  of  philosophizing,  a  day  of 
compiling  of  biographies,  of  writing  history 
instead  of  making  it,  a  period  of  crystalliza- 
tion of  forces  and  ideas  into  organization,  of 
bureaucratic  administration,  and  the  reach 
for  social  prestige,  for  wealth  and  power — 
slowly  gliding  into  its  third  stage  of  Apologia, 
explanation  and  decadence. 

So  it  was  with  the  church.  There  comes  a 
time  when  where  some  great  battle  was  fought, 
or  where  Elishas  crossed  Jordans,  smiting  a 
path  through  the  waters  with  mantles  of 
power,  the  inheritors  of  the  freedom  won,  or 
of  the  revelation  bestowed,  will  sit  around  and 
pick  blackberries.  Where  there  is  no  prophetic 
vision  there  is  no  prophetic  power.  The  fire 
has  died  out. 

132 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODEEN  CHUKCH 

The  church  failed.  It  stepped  from  the 
prison  to  the  throne.  Never  was  the  church 
a  greater  regenerating  force  in  human  life 
than  when  she  was  housed  in  the  Catacombs ; 
when  instead  of  seeking  power  she  plucked  the 
purple  flowers  of  martyrdom. 

The  church  failed  to  fulfill  its  mission,  to 
realize  the  kingdom  of  God,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  achieved  in  any  one  generation,  not  because 
it  was  burdened  with  an  impossible  task,  the 
reconstruction  of  civilization  on  the  principles 
of  Jesus  as  foundation  stones,  weighty  as  that 
task  was,  and  is,  but  for  the  sole  reason  that, 
like  Israel,  it  grew  false  to  its  own  ideals. 
It  linked  itself  with  the  state,  as  the  early 
church  did  under  Constantine,  and  succumbed 
to  the  spirit  and  the  methods  of  the  state. 
Amid  the  conflicts  of  rival  princes  following 
the  break-up  of  the  empire  in  the  West,  it  as- 
cended the  dread  heights  of  Caesarian  power 
and  hid  the  cross  of  Christ  in  the  folds  of  the 
imperial  purple.  The  vision  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom  faded  away  before  the  rising  splen- 
dor of  an  organization  that  rivaled  the  em- 
pire of  the  Caesars.  Papalism  rose  as  the  em- 
pire declined,  and  as  political  power  and 
wealth  increased  spiritual  power  decreased. 
"You  see,"  said  Pope  Innocent  IV  to  Thomas 

m 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

Aquinas,  one  day,  as  he  pointed  to  some  loads 
of  treasure  that  were  being  carried  into  the 
Vatican,  "that  the  day  is  passed  when  the 
church  could  say  ^Silver  and  gold  have  I 
none.' " 

"Yes,  holy  father,"  replied  Thomas,  "and 
the  day  is  also  passed  when  she  can  say  to  the 
paralytic,  'Take  up  thy  bed  and  walk.' " 

The  church,  we  admit,  failed  also  at  the 
Reformation.  The  idea  of  a  theocratic  king- 
dom took  possession  in  crudest  form  among 
certain  sects,  but  the  kingdom  of  God  as  pro- 
claimed by  Jesus  was  lost  sight  of  by  the 
church  in  the  conflicts  of  the  period.  The 
political,  religious,  and  the  humanistic  forces 
originating  in  the  Renaissance,  and  which  had 
been  slowly  gathering  strength,  finally  ex- 
ploded and  disrupted,  perhaps  forever,  the 
unity  of  Christendom.  The  Corpus  Chris- 
tianum  was  rent  asunder.  The  one  church  be- 
came many.  Those  that  broke  away  from  the 
Caesaro-Papalism  of  Rome,  instead  of  unit- 
ing in  one  body,  separated  from  each  other 
and  became  national  churches,  thus  repeat- 
ing the  blunder  of  the  church  under  Constan- 
tine.  For  the  protection  the  state  afforded, 
each  national  church  supported  the  state,  be- 
came subject  to  the  state,  and,  allied  with  the 

134 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

state  in  its  policies,  gave  divine  sanction  to  its 
decrees.  Neither  Luther  nor  Melanchthon, 
Zwingle  or  Calvin  or  Bucer,  or  any  of  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Reformation  in  Germany  or  in 
Switzerland,  and  certainly  none  in  England, 
considered  church  and  state  as  two  distinct 
and  independent  bodies.  If  they  did  not  sub- 
ject the  church  in  everything,  as  Zwingle  did, 
to  the  state,  they  would,  as  Calvin  did  in 
Geneva,  subject  the  state  to  the  church. 

In  vain  will  the  historian  search  for  any 
important  contribution  to  the  free  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  spirit  originating  in  na- 
tional churches,  or  beyond  that  which  the  state 
itself  has  made.  State  churches  are  not  inde- 
pendent. Subsidized  by  government,  they 
naturally  support  government,  defend  it,  in- 
dorse its  policies,  sanctify  its  ambitions,  and 
anathematize  those  who  do  not  thank  heaven 
for  its  victories  in  war  which,  whether  just 
or  unjust,  are  certain  evidence  of  the  favor 
of  God.  When  did  a  national  church  protest 
against  a  war  the  state  government  had  de- 
termined upon,  and,  in  defiance  of  its  pro- 
moters, appeal  to  the  nation? 

Looking  back  on  those  tumultuous  days  of 
the  Reformation  when  the  modern  age  was 
struggling  to  be  born,  it  can  be  clearly  seen 
X35 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

why  the  churches,  breaking  away  from  Rome, 
put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the 
state,  and  were  therefore  unable  to  bring  to 
the  front  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  or 
rather  universal  peace,  as  a  condition  of  its 
sway  in  the  world. 

But  the  day  of  subservience  to  the  state, 
that  is,  to  a  body  of  statesmen  who  for  the 
time  being  control  the  state,  is,  or  should  be, 
forever  gone.  The  cry  of  Cavour  for  a  "Free 
church  in  a  free  state"  has  become  a  universal 
conviction  and  a  reality,  even  at  the  present 
in  Germany,  and  in  England,  despite  the  resid- 
uum of  Toryism  which  still  lingers  in  classic 
shades  and  in  circles  of  special  privilege. 

A  new  day,  therefore,  has  come  to  the 
church.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should 
fail  now.  Christ  our  Lord  sets  before  the 
church  of  the  twentieth  century  an  open  door 
of  opportunity  such  as  was  never  opened  be- 
fore in  the  course  of  its  history.  Now,  if  it 
has  the  divine  daring  to  do  so,  it  may  fulfill 
the  prophecy  of  its  mission  in  history,  a 
"healer  of  the  breach,  a  leader  of  the  paths 
for  the  people  to  walk  in."  Never  before  in 
modern  times  was  the  church  in  all  lands  and 
in  all  languages  endowed  with  leaders  of 
greater  gifts,  with  clearer  sight  and  wider 

136 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODEEN  CHURCH 

vision.  Hence,  this  war  gives  the  church,  now 
endowed  with  such  leadership,  the  opportunity 
to  redeem  the  past,  to  swing  forward  to  the 
head  of  the  column  as  the  leader  of  the  na- 
tions in  paths  of  peace.  As  Saint  Paul,  stand- 
ing between  the  old  and  new  eras,  wrote  to 
the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  10.  11),  we  also  at 
this  hour  are  ^^ confronted  with  the  ages"!  In 
our  day  the  streams  of  history  converge,  a 
new  era  opens  in  the  progress  of  humanity, 
and  a  new  day  dawns  for  the  Church  of  God. 
Never  will  the  world  be  the  same  again;  the 
opportunity  and  man,  the  church  and  its 
chance,  face  each  other  and  what  is  done,  or 
is  not  done,  will  profoundly  determine  the 
thought  and  the  life  of  the  future. 

It  is  for  the  church  to  discern  the  day  of 
its  visitation.  To  every  nation,  to  the  church 
in  every  new  age,  such  a  day  comes,  and  such 
a  day  is  now.  We  have  seen  that  even  if 
the  United  States,  with  or  without  reserva- 
tions, should  join  the  entente  powers  in  a 
League  of  Nations,  the  moral  effect  of  this 
international  combine  upon  the  peoples  of  the 
world  has  been  already  lost.  The  League  of 
Nations,  some  think,  is  already  dead.  Poland 
defies  it,  Rumania,  Italy,  Germany — all  who 
have  a  territorial  grievance — defy  it;  and 
137 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

neither  England  nor  France  is  able  or  will- 
ing to  enforce  acquiescence  in  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles.  The  widespread  suspicion  that  the 
map  of  Europe  as  drawn  at  Versailles  cannot 
remain  as  drawn  but  must  involve  further 
struggle,  this  time  involving  the  whole  Islamic 
peoples  in  the  East,  rests  heavily  upon  all 
Europe. 

Can  the  church  of  God  stand  by  and  see 
humanity  go  once  more  the  road  to  Calvary 
without  demanding  in  every  land  that  war 
shall  cease? 

What  is  the  church  for?  It  is  now  a  trite 
saying  that  the  church  is  for  service.  We  hear 
it  at  every  convention,  great  and  small,  as  if 
there  were  some  magic  in  the  repeating  of  it, 
but  what  kind  of  service?  Every  intelligent 
man  now  knows  that  the  church  that  does  the 
greatest  service  spiritually  and  socially  in 
the  largest  sphere  is  the  church  that  fills  out 
the  ideal  of  her  Lord.  A  little,  puny,  starve- 
ling of  a  so-called  church,  so  narrow  in  its 
conceptions  of  the  purpose  of  Christ  in  found- 
ing his  church,  and  so  selfish  in  its  work  that 
it  is  driven  for  very  shame  to  invent  reasons 
and  excuses  for  its  isolation  from  the  mani- 
fold interests  of  men,  and  tries  to  think  that 
this  seclusion  from  the  world  is  piety — such 
13$ 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODEEN  CHURCH 

a  chureh  has  no  right  to  exist.  It  is  a  carica- 
ture, an  imposition  and  a  humbug,  an  ecclesi- 
astical fakir,  which  men  will  not  sustain  in 
that  day  when  they  come — as  they  surely  will 
— to  appraise  the  value  of  every  church  to  the 
cause  of  humanity.  Every  man  of  modern 
mind  knows  this.  Christ  is  for  humanity.  He 
is  for  any  church  only  so  far  as  that  church 
is  for  humanity. 

But  what  larger  service  can  the  church  do 
to  the  present  age,  and  for  all  time  to  come, 
than  to  bring  about  perpetual  peace  on  the 
earth,  one  phase  of  the  kingdom  of  God?  Is 
not  this  the  duty  of  the  church?  Is  the 
church  true  to  her  calling  if  she  turns  this 
duty  over  to  the  state  alone,  as  something  that 
belongs  solely  to  government?  Why,  then, 
does  the  church  interfere  with  the  liquor 
traf&c,  with  questions  of  social  welfare  which 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  state  solely  to  determine? 
We  have  gone  far  beyond  all  such  interroga- 
tions in  these  days,  and  in  our  deepest  selves 
know  that  nothing  human  is  alien  to  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  The  whole  man  belongs  to 
Christ. 

The  government  of  any  state  is  the  represen- 
tative of  the  people.  Its  relations  to  other 
governments,  its  contracts  or  understandings 
139 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

are,  or  should  be,  known  to  the  people.  Such 
government  does  not  exist  apart  from  the 
people ;  it  is  the  people,  and  because  it  is  this 
it  can  be  compelled  to  obey  the  will  of  the 
people.  The  church,  therefore,  as  a  body,  and 
as  a  part  of  the  people,  has  equal  right  with 
every  other  part  to  be  heard  in  the  councils 
of  the  government  which  affect  the  weal  or 
woe  of  the  nation  and  of  other  nations,  since 
humanity  is  one,  all  men  everywhere  being 
members  one  of  another. 

There  was  a  time  when,  by  the  power  of 
spiritual  authority,  recognized  in  some  dim 
w^ay  as  of  equal  authority  with  the  state, 
the  church  could  forbid  even  a  Roman  em- 
peror, Theodosius,  after  his  massacre  of  the 
Thessalonians,  to  approach  the  altar  with 
•  bloody  hands;  a  time  when  she  could  wrench 
the  palladium  of  English  law  and  free- 
dom, the  Magna  Charta,  from  a  lawless  king ; 
a  time  when,  wrestling  with  the  chaos  and 
barbarism  of  northern  Europe,  she  could 
defend  the  rights  of  men  and  throw  her 
protection  over  the  weakest  that  appealed  to 
her  aid.  That  day  has  gone.  But  the  con- 
science of  humanity  has  not  gone.  The  Church 
of  God,  though  divided,  still  has  authority 
and  power  to  stir  the  conscience  of  Christen- 

3,40 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

dom  if  it  would  bring  to  hear  united  protest 
on  the  belligerent  policies  of  the  nations. 

Since  the  policies  of  statesmen  in  every 
country  have  failed,  why  should  not  the 
church  now  apply  the  principles  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  need  of  the  world?  If  how  to 
bring  peace  will  test,  as  Lord  Balfour  said, 
"the  statesmanship  of  the  world,"  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  church  to  test  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  in  world  problems  should  be  welcomed 
by  statesmen,  if  they  prefer  the  world's  peace 
to  their  political  ambitions.  For  it  seems,  for 
reasons  already  stated,  as  certain  as  anything 
in  the  future  can  be  certain,  that  if  the  League 
of  Nations  depends  for  its  success  solely  upon 
the  several  governments  now  signatory  to  its 
covenant,  it  will  be  a  bitter  disappointment. 
Man  cannot  redeem  himself  politically  any 
more  than  he  can  spiritually,  without  the  aid 
of  moral  impulse. 

The  question,  then,  the  most  urgent  for  the 
Christian  Church,  is,  What  can  the  churches 
do  in  all  lands  to  assist  the  leaders  of  po- 
litical thought  and  the  responsible  heads  of 
government  to  make  such  a  League  of  Nations 
an  accomplished  fact?  Is  it  desirable  that 
the  churches  should  ally  themselves  with  this 
cause?    That  is  to  say,  shall  the  church  here- 

141 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

after,  as  in  the  past,  allow  the  politics  of  the 
world  to  be  conducted  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  material  interests  of  the  nations,  or  shall 
international  dealings  be  conducted  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  kingdom  of  God?  Shall 
material  interests  control,  or  shall  the  spirit 
of  Christian  morality  be  interfused  in  all  in- 
ternational diplomacy?  How  long  shall  this 
world  be  governed  solely  by  selfish  interests, 
without  regard  to  real  justice,  or  any  of  the 
civilizing  and  spiritualizing  principles  of 
Jesus  Christ?  Shall  the  church  of  the  future 
continue  to  be  a  rubber  stamp  for  political 
parties?  Shall  her  ministers  be  state-chap- 
lains or  prophets  of  God? 

If  the  churches  were  determined  that  gov- 
ernments shall  absolutely  sever  themselves 
from  the  old  political  methods,  which  never 
have  brought  peace  to  mankind,  as  they  are 
that  the  gospel  shall  be  preached  to  the 
heathen  at  home  and  abroad,  the  line  of  cleav- 
age between  government  and  people  in  for- 
eign affairs  would  not  be  so  deep  nor  so  broad. 
So  long  as  the  assumption  exists  and  is  acted 
upon  that  the  church  has  nothing  to  do  with 
politics,  so  long  will  governments  go  their 
way  independent  of  the  will  of  the  people  un- 
til they  need  the  aid  of  the  people  to  give 

142 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

sanction  to  their  acts.  But  the  church  with- 
out interfering  in  the  duties  of  the  state  can 
put  a  curb  on  the  political  designs  of  states- 
men inspired  by  party  or  financial  interests 
to  fling  the  kindred  of  the  earth  into  mortal 
combat. 

To  this  end  appeal  should  be  made  to  Chris- 
tians in  all  lands  to  consider  what  the  effect 
on  Christian  thought  would  be  if  the  churches 
— all  the  churches  of  Christendom — should 
unite  in  their  Synods  or  Councils,  Conferences 
or  General  Assemblies  or  through  their  repre- 
sentatives, lay  and  clerical,  the  bishops  and 
archbishops  and  the  leaders  of  the  noncon- 
formist bodies  of  England  and  France,  Italy, 
and  Germany;  the  bishops  and  other  leaders  of 
the  great  Protestant  and  Catholic  churches  of 
America — if  Christendom  should  meet  to- 
gether in  council  and  unite  in  a  Christian 
League  to  support  an  international  League  of 
peace  established  by  the  political  powers  of  the 
world,  the  vision  of  prophecy  would  be  real- 
ized, the  will  of  God  expressed  at  the  birth  of 
his  Son  the  Prince  of  Peace  would  be  done, 
and  the  way  opened  as  it  has  never  been 
opened  for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 

At  Central  Hall,  Westminster,  London, 
November,  1918,  a  conference,  the  press  re- 

143 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

ports  inform  us,  was  held  to  consider  this 
subject.  It  was  a  notable  gathering.  The 
conference  was  attended  by  representatives 
nominated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
the  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  the  chair- 
man of  the  Baptist  Union  of  England  and 
Wales,  the  presidents  of  the  Primitive  Method- 
ist, United  Methodist,  and  Wesleyan  Method- 
ist churches,  and  Cardinal  Bourne.  Two  reso- 
lutions were  adopted  by  the  meeting,  and 
afterward  forwarded  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who  has  since  intimated  his  inten- 
tion of  calling  a  representative  gathering  at 
Lambeth,  which,  in  the  first  instance,  will  be 
held  in  private.  The  resolutions  are  as 
follows : 

1.  That  this  meeting,  realizing  the  responsibility  of 
the  churches  in  reference  to  the  speedy  furtherance  of 
the  League  of  Nations  proposal,  respectfully  requests  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  summon  a  gathering,  con- 
sisting of  the  heads  of  all  the  British  churches,  together 
with  other  representatives  by  them  appointed,  to  confer 
without  delay  and  to  appoint  a  standing  committee  to 
take  appropriate  action  in  support  of  the  League  of 
Nations  proposal. 

2.  That  this  meeting  suggests,  as  exemplifying  the 
kind  of  work  which  could  be  undertaken  by  the  standing 
committee:  (1)  The  holding  at  an  early  date  of  a  na- 
tional conference,  representative  of  all  the  churches,  at 

144 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

which  the  support  of  the  churches  to  the  League  of 
Nations  proposal  could  be  focused  and  a  lead  given  to 
the  Christian  opinion  of  the  nation.  (2)  The  endeavor, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  secure  similar  united  action  in 
support  of  the  League  of  Nations  proposal,  or  to  cooper- 
ate with  similar  movements,  on  the  part  of  the  Christian 
churches  of  the  Dominions  and  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

3.  The  consideration  of  methods  of  cooperation  with 
similar  Christian  movements  in  other  countries. 

4.  Educational  propaganda,  not  only  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  League  of  Nations,  but  also  for  its  support 
during  the  years  when  the  League  would  be  on  its  trial. 

Is  a  Christian  League  of  Nations,  supporting 
the  League  proposed  by  England,  France,  the 
United  States,  and  Italy,  feasible?  Is  it  prac- 
ticable? Is  it  a  dream  of  Utopia?  Consider 
it  seriously.  If  military  nations,  through  gov- 
ernmental institutions,  the  universities,  the 
pulpits,  and  the  press,  can  instill  through  long 
periods  into  the  masses  of  their  people  the 
spirit  of  war,  for  offense  or  defense,  could  not 
the  church  also  in  every  land  destroy  the 
teachings  of  barbarism  and  by  means  of  Chris- 
tian education,  a  truly  Christian  pulpit,  and 
the  apostolate  of  a  Christian  press,  creating 
public  opinion,  bring  all  classes  of  society  to 
the  support  of  the  peaceful  policies  of  their 
respective  governments?  It  will  be  easier  to 
do  this  than  to  tax  the  nations  for  increase  in 

145 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

armaments,  to  drench  the  earth  with  blood  in 
aggressive  warfare,  to  send  to  the  slaughter  of 
the  battlefield  the  finest  manhood  of  the  world, 
either  to  sustain  imperial  dynasties  or  self- 
determined  boundaries  or,  on  pretext  of  na- 
tional danger,  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  war 
lords  or  the  gamblers  of  a  nation's  welfare. 

In  what  effective  way,  then,  can  the  church 
assist  the  League  of  Nations? 

It  is  evident  that  the  church  in  every  land 
must  put  itself  in  line  with  the  best  efforts  of 
the  League  to  bring  peace  to  the  nations. 
Civilization  must  be  born  again.  The  world 
can  never  go  on  in  the  old  way  of  thinking 
which  has  led  to  infinite  misery  and  the  dis- 
solution of  everything  men  valued  and  relied 
upon.  The  church  itself  must  move  into 
larger  fields,  and,  despite  the  criticism  and 
misunderstanding  which  will  surely  come,  the 
political  interests  of  men  in  their  moral 
aspects  must  be  directed  in  the  interest  of 
world  peace,  with  an  eye  single  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  well-being  of  humanity. 

Of  course,  it  will  be  assumed  that  since  the 
church  failed  either  to  prevent  or  to  shorten 
the  war,  it  can  be  of  little  practical  worth  in 
influencing  either  governments  or  peoples  of 
the  belligerent  nations.    It  also  will  be  urged 

146 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

that  the  church,  because  of  its  divisions,  can- 
not impress  governments  with  united  opinion, 
or  bring  to  bear  in  any  crises  united  action. 
The  conclusion,  therefore,  will  be  that  the 
church  should  leave  affairs  of  state  to  states- 
men and  devote  itself  to  spiritual  matters. 

This  is  cheap  advice,  and  is  usually  given  by 
those  who  would  continue  the  old  monopoly  of 
government  such  as  they  enjoyed  before  they 
disrupted  Europe,  But  are  not  these  raucous 
voices  louder  and  harsher  than  the  facts  will 
warrant?  Are  not  these  solicitous  guardians 
of  the  church's  spirituality  really  more  inter- 
ested in  the  sale  of  Diana's  images  than  in 
the  truth  of  Paul's  preaching,  in  the  profits 
of  war  rather  than  in  the  blood  of  the  people, 
poured  out  on  battlefields,  to  no  purpose  but 
the  triumph  of  victory  over  another  people 
as  miserable  as  themselves? 

One  need  not  add  to  nor  attempt  to  answer 
the  indictments  against  the  church  that  it  has 
lost  its  influence  over  the  masses,  that  the 
masses  have  lost  faith  in  the  church,  that  the 
church  has  lost  faith  in  itself  as  a  world-re- 
deeming power  in  its  relation  to  world-govern- 
ment. It  requires  no  great  intellectual  ca- 
pacity, nor  is  it  a  distinguishing  evidence  of 
moral  excellence,  to  indulge  in  supercilious 

147 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

criticism  of  the  failure  of  the  church  to 
prevent  the  war. 

There  are  many  causes  for  the  weakness  and 
decline  of  popular  faith  in  the  church.  It  can- 
not be  denied  that  materialistic  thought  turned 
God  the  Creator  into  an  interrogation  mark, 
that  destructive  criticism,  taught  in  many 
universities  for  the  past  thirty  years,  devitaliz- 
ing the  positive  truths  of  the  gospel,  played 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  religion,  that 
the  historic  faith  was  denied,  that  in  the 
atmosphere  of  doubt  created  by  rationalist 
preaching  and  teaching,  the  Christ  of  the 
people  in  many  quarters  faded  away  into  dim 
uncertainty  and  the  authority  of  the  church 
faded  with  him. 

In  every  country  in  Europe,  and  in  this 
country  also  before  the  war,  a  feeling  of  in- 
difference, a  wave  of  practical  infidelity,  was 
sweeping  over  the  people.  The  masses  were 
submerged  in  materialistic  thinking  and  liv- 
ing, finding  altogether  the  satisfactions  of  life 
in  the  grossness  of  earthly  pleasures.  The 
churches,  many  of  them,  in  every  city  were 
empty,  notwithstanding  every  device,  from 
operatic  performances  to  the  antics  of  the 
mountebank,  to  entice  the  man  in  the  street 
to  fill  the  desolate  void.    This  may  be  ad- 

148 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

mitted.  And  it  may  be  admitted  further  that 
no  great  spiritual  leader  or  apostle  in  any 
country  in  Europe  held  commanding  spiritual 
influence  over  the  masses,  whose  souls,  irre- 
sponsive to  official  religion,  were  thrilled  by 
the  apostles  of  socialism  and  anarchy.  But 
there  were  no  flaming  evangels;  no  Lacor- 
daire,  no  Spurgeon,  no  Stoecker,  though  in 
the  United  States  we  had  some  notable 
leaders,  such  as  Cadman,  Jefferson,  Hillis, 
Gunsaulus,  Bishop  McDowell,  in  all  de- 
nominations who  preached  Christ  cruci- 
fied as  the  only  hope  of  the  world.  No  voice 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  all  Europe, 
not  even  the  Roman  pontiff  himself,  could 
appeal  effectively  to  the  crowned  heads  of 
Europe  or  to  the  masses  of  the  people  to  stop 
this  war,  and  when  the  war,  like  the  thunders 
of  the  Almighty  in  the  skies,  broke  loose  in  all 
its  devastating  horror,  one  voice  alone  in  all 
Europe,  not  the  Vatican,  not  Canterbury,  not 
York,  but  the  voice  of  the  heroic  martyr  of 
Belgium,  Cardinal  Mercier,  the  Archbishop  of 
Malines,  one  voice  alone  rose  above  the  shouts 
of  battle  and  the  shock  of  arms  and  compelled 
the  whole  world  to  behold  in  wrath  the  un- 
speakable barbarism  of  war. 
All  this  may  be  admitted  in  a  degree,  and 

149 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

one  may  not  be  able  to  refute  the  charge  that 
the  church  has  failed  to  influence  the  masses 
or  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  nations,  because 
it  has  broken  its  own  unity ;  and  by  reason  of 
its  divisions  has  brought  forth  weakness  in- 
stead of  strength.  All  this  in  a  measure  may 
be  true,  and,  as  in  a  critical  hour  in  the  French 
Revolution,  the  mighty  Mirabeau  cried  out  in 
the  Convention,  "The  sins  of  my  youth  prevent 
me  from  saving  France  I"  so  might  the  church 
have  cried  out  at  the  beginning  of  this  war, 
"My  sins  and  divisions  prevent  me  from  saving 
Europe  and  the  world." 

Christendom  is  divided.  Protestantism  is 
divided.  But  let  us  not  exaggerate  the  evil, 
if  it  is  an  evil.  To  superficial  observers  who 
would  magnify  our  shortcomings,  it  may  seem 
that  the  lack  of  the  unifying  principle  of  re- 
ligion is  too  pronounced  in  the  divisions  of 
the  church  for  the  church  to  be  of  much  force 
in  unifying  the  nations.  But  no  one  who 
looks  deeper  will  deny  that,  after  all,  among 
Christians  of  whatever  name,  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  as  the  battlefields  of  France  and 
Flanders  testify  in  voices  from  the  wounded 
and  the  dying,  which  speak  louder  than  the 
voices  of  disunion,  there  is  beneath  these  ex- 
ternal divisions  an  inner,  spiritual  bond  of 

150 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

union  which   binds  all  Christians  into   one 
spirit  around  the  undivided  Christ. 

Nor  is  it  altogether  accurate  to  say  that  the 
people  in  any  country  has  lost  such  confidence 
in  the  church  that  it  cannot  influence  govern- 
ment and,  if  it  willy  produce  a  revolution  in 
the  whole  life  and  thought  of  the  world.  The 
Church  of  God  can  revolutionize  the  thinking 
of  a  nation,  for  what  is  a  nation  but  an  aggre- 
gation of  individuals?  If  the  regenerating 
gospel  can  convert  the  individual,  it  can  con- 
vert any  number  of  individuals.  The  people 
still  reverence  the  church  as  in  some  way  the 
only  authoritative  voice  of  God  on  this  planet. 
In  France  such  has  been  the  loyalty  of  the 
Roman  Church  to  the  republic,  her  priests 
seeking  no  exemptions,  but  flocking  to  the 
colors  and  fighting  with  such  contagious 
bravery  in  the  trenches,  that  the  bitter  an- 
tagonism existing  between  church  and  state 
prior  to  the  war  has  melted  away  in  a  common 
love  for  the  fatherland.  The  outburst  of- 
Bolsheviki  savagery  against  the  church  in 
Russia,  demolishing  churches,  massacring 
priests,  and  repeating  all  the  horrors  of  the 
French  Reign  of  Terror,  has  in  no  wise  de- 
stroyed the  faith  of  the  masses  in  the  orthodox 
church,  but  has  rather  given  it  renewed  life; 
15X 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

nor  has  the  Greek  Church  in  the  Balkans  or 
elsewhere  lost  its  influence  amid  the  cyclone 
of  death  and  misery  which  has  well-nigh  ex- 
terminated those  peoples.  In  England,  the 
churches,  both  national  and  nonconformist, 
still  kindle  the  fires  of  devotion,  whatever  dis- 
putes concerning  church  government  or  ec- 
clesiastical conformity  may  cut  deep  lines  of 
cleavage  between  representative  bodies.  In 
the  United  States,  membership  in  all  churches 
shows  at  present  a  decline  in  numbers  owing 
to  the  war,  but  not  since  the  founding  of  the 
republic  have  the  people  manifested  deeper 
appreciation  of  the  church,  and  never  has  it 
exerted  such  widespread  influence  in  every 
zone  and  relation  of  American  life.  Hundreds 
of  millions  of  money  have  been  spontaneously 
thrown  into  the  treasuries  of  the  churches  in 
response  to  their  appeal  for  funds  to  carry  on 
their  work,  while  their  evangelistic  labors  have 
quickened  the  sense  of  religion  in  every  part  of 
the  country. 

Never  apparently  was  the  modern  church 
more  deeply  appreciated,  at  least  in  this  coun- 
try, for  its  work's  sake.  In  vital  touch  with 
the  surging  life  of  polyglot  America,  it  relates 
itself  to  all  classes,  and  even  through  foreign- 
ers from  every  nation  under  heaven  it  awakens 

152 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

in  no  small  way  the  thinking  of  their  relatives 
in  the  homeland.  In  congested  cities,  towns, 
and  in  the  agricultural  districts,  in  workshop 
and  mill,  in  stores  and  factories,  in  the  slums, 
which  should  not  be  tolerated,  but  where  the 
poor  and  the  unfortunate  are  huddled  away, 
among  laboring  people  everywhere,  the  church 
ministers  through  numerous  agencies  in  count- 
less ways — physical,  social,  spiritual,  domestic. 

In  foreign  fields,  in  every  habitable  country 
on  the  globe,  missionaries,  men  of  intellect,  of 
scientific  attainments  in  various  professions, 
spread  the  evangel  which  has  created  the  best 
there  is  in  Western  civilization,  and  sow  the 
seeds  of  spiritual  regeneration  without  which 
no  people  can  come  to  a  full  realization  of 
their  worth  and  calling  in  history.  The  church 
is  not  dead,  nor  is  she  going  to  die.  The  day 
of  materialistic  thinking  went  down  in  blood 
and  smoke  on  the  battlefields  of  Europe,  and 
whether  all  men  believe  in  a  personal,  direct- 
ing God  or  not,  they  do  see  that  there  is  Some- 
thing in  the  universe  that  works  for  righteous- 
ness. 

On  the  whole,  one  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  and  has 
carefully  surveyed  the  present  religious  condi- 
tion of  the  world,  may  well  be  within  the  rim 

153 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

of  undeniable  fact  should  he  state  that  not 
since  the  divisive  period  of  the  Reformation  in 
the  sixteenth  century  were  the  churches  of 
Christendom  so  closely  related  or  so  cordially 
cooperative  in  good  works  as  they  are  at  this 
time.  It  is  needless  to  furnish  proof  of  this. 
Numerous  evidences  of  it  may  be  met  with 
every  day  in  towns  and  cities  where  there  are 
different  churches,  and  what  is  of  universal  ex- 
perience is  superfluous  to  prove. 

Apart  from  any  political  suggestion,  but 
proceeding  solely  from  a  sense  of  moral  duty, 
among  the  means  for  realizing  the  purposes  of 
the  League  of  Nations  should  he  a  more  inti- 
mate and  more  frequent  intercourse  between 
the  churches  in  Europe  and  those  in  the 
United  States, 

Mutual  acquaintance  promotes  understand- 
ing among  different  nationalities  and  ripens 
into  friendship.  Starting  from  the  basic 
principle  that  it  is  the  expressed  will  of  God 
that  all  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  world's  Redeemer  should  make 
possible  the  coming  of  his  kingdom — a  possi- 
bility which  never  can  be  realized  while  war  is 
recognized  as  the  means  for  adjusting  national 
contentions — there  should  be  no  ground  for 
suspicion,  political  or  religious,  of  representa- 

X54 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODEEN  CHURCH 

lives  of  the  churches  meeting  in  open  confer- 
ences for  the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  among 
the  masses  the  psychological  conditions  of  uni- 
versal peace.  No  government  that  is  signatory 
to  the  covenant  could  object,  providing  the 
propaganda  were  carried  on  in  all  countries, 
nor  could  any  government  complain  that  the 
church  was  going  over  its  head  to  the  people, 
or  that  the  church,  aided  by  representatives  of 
a  foreign  church,  was  injecting  itself  between 
the  government  and  the  people  contrary  to 
governmental  policy. 

Whatever  seeming  danger  may  lurk  here  to 
well-meaning  efforts,  it  will  be  dissipated 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  churches  of 
Europe  are  as  loyal  to  their  people  and  as 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  their  countries  as 
are  the  churches  in  America  to  the  future  of 
the  republic.  The  terrible  war  through  which 
the  world  has  just  waded  left  no  such  taint 
of  disloyalty  to  their  governments  on  the 
churches  in  Europe  as  was  openly  charged 
against  some  in  the  United  States. 

The  Evangelical  Alliance,  which  years  ago 
brought  together  in  the  United  States  and 
elsewhere  the  most  representative  scholars  of 
international  repute  in  all  the  churches,  not 
only  combated  the  evil  effects  of  rationalism 
155 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

and  strengthened  essential  unity  in  the 
historic  faith,  but  contributed  greatly  to  the 
good  will  and  comity  existing  between  the 
nations  represented.  Thus  also  could  the 
churches,  by  reciprocal  visitation  and  by 
world-wide  publicity  of  the  needs  and  desires 
of  the  people  in  every  nation,  promote  the 
cause  of  peace.  However  embittered  the 
peoples  of  Central  Europe  may  be  toward  the 
governments  of  the  war-period  which  brought 
on  the  war  and  deceived  them  as  to  its  causes, 
or  even  toward  the  American  government  for 
its  effective  participation  in  the  defeat  of  Ger- 
many and  her  allies,  there  is  no  question 
among  all  classes  but  that  the  humanity  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  and  the  generosity  of  the 
American  churches  in  furnishing  food  and 
clothing  for  starving  millions  in  Belgium, 
France,  Italy,  and  the  Germanic  nationalities, 
have  opened  the  way  for  closer  friendship  be- 
tween the  nations.  They  now  see  that  America 
is  not  materialistic,  selfish,  seeking  only  com- 
mercial advantage  at  the  expense  of  European 
labor,  but  while  careful  of  its  own  interests, 
desires  nothing  more  than  to  live  in  peace  and 
amity  with  all  other  peoples. 

Politicians  discourse  much  on  democracy  as 
a  means  for  uniting  the  nations  without  much 

156 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

definition  of  its  meaning,  and  the  war-cry, 
"Making  the  world  safe  for  democracy,"  has 
often  been  a  fat  text  for  a  lean  sermon.  The 
definition  of  democracy  by  the  immortal 
Lincoln  as  a  "government  of  the  people,  for 
the  people,  and  by  the  people,"  is  perfectly 
intelligible  to  the  American  born  in  freedom 
with  the  ballot  in  his  hand,  but  it  is  not  so 
clear  to  those  who  have  never  known  any  gov- 
ernment but  the  rule  of  force  imposed  from 
above.  These  people  will  have  to  learn  that 
democracy  is  more  than  a  form  of  government. 
Christian  democracy,  which  the  churches 
stand  for,  and  which  is  the  best  type  of  democ- 
racy, seeks  the  highest  moral  as  well  as  merely 
political  good  of  all  men,  since  without  this 
moral  foundation  there  can  be  no  permanent 
bond  linking  the  nations  in  real  brotherhood. 
This  kind  of  democracy  supplies  the  necessary 
motive  for  permanence,  as  mere  politics  can- 
not, for  at  bottom,  government  is  largely  a 
matter  of  expediency.  But  the  laws  of  God 
are  not  expedients.  They  are  built  into  the 
constitution  of  our  moral  nature,  and  we  must 
obey  them  or  suffer  the  consequences.  The 
future  belongs  to  this  Christian  democracy  be- 
cause this  democracy  alone  is  basic.  It  is  the 
enemy  of  oppression,  but  the  apostle  of  free- 

157 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

dom;  the  foe  of  anarchy,  but  the  defender  of 
law;  the  enemy  of  hate,  but  the  promoter  of 
love.  It  is  universal  in  its  scope.  It  knows 
no  foreigners;  it  is  the  bond  of  brotherhood. 
It  knows  no  race  but  the  human  race,  neither 
Jew  nor  Gentile,  neither  Americans  nor  Rus- 
sians, Englishmen  nor  Frenchmen,  Germans 
nor  Poles,  Irishmen  nor  Italians,  Hungarians 
nor  Greeks,  but,  leaping  over  all  boundaries,  all 
barriers  and  distinctions  of  race  and  color,  of 
poverty  and  wealth,  of  creed  and  nationality, 
it  seeks  justice,  an  open  field  and  a  fair  chance 
for  all  men!  This  is  Christian  democracy. 
But  there  is  no  institution  among  men  that 
has  the  power  or  the  machinery  to  instill  this 
kind  of  democracy  into  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  the  people  except  the  church  of  God;  and 
it  is  through  the  church  that  this  democracy, 
based  fundamentally  upon  the  spiritual 
nature  of  man,  and  not  alone  upon  his  physical 
needs,  that  may  become  the  common  posses- 
sion and  blessing  of  mankind. 

Another  means  by  which  the  church  may 
help  the  League  of  Nations  is  by  its  influence 
upon  the  press. 

In  every  country  there  is  a  section  of  the 
press  which,  assuming  to  be  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  nation,  seems  to  exist  for  the  sole  pur- 

158 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

pose  of  creating  suspicion  and  misunderstand- 
ings between  their  own  government  and  the 
government  or  people  of  some  other  country. 
Whatever  the  foreign  government  does  is 
always  done,  in  its  opinion,  with  ulterior 
motives  against  its  own  virtuous  people,  and 
the  home  government  is  called  upon  to  take 
decisive  action  to  maintain  the  national  honor 
or  to  forestall  disaster  to  the  nation's  com- 
mercial interests.  Failing  to  obey  the  hyster- 
ics of  Jingoism,  the  government  is  abused, 
vilified,  ridiculed,  and  made  odious  to  the 
people,  who  never  dreamed  that  because  a 
member  of  Parliament  in  some  other  country 
insisted  upon  a  certain  tariff,  a  commercial 
war  was  meditated;  or  that  because  a  For- 
eign Office  denounced  an  outworn  treaty 
severance  of  diplomatic  relations  would 
speedily  follow,  and  that  a  casus  belli  was  be- 
ing concocted  by  the  envious  nation.  Every 
act  that  affords  the  slightest  opportunity  for 
criticism  is  misinterpreted,  every  speech  of 
premier  or  leader  of  opposition  is  distorted, 
every  expression  of  opinion  in  the  foreign 
press  is  an  occasion  for  an  insulting  diatribe 
against  the  whole  nation  or  the  government  of 
that  people,  until  the  victims  of  false  news,  of 
criminal  inventions,  begin  to  think  that  possi- 
169 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

bly  there  is  danger  in  the  supineness  of  their 
own  government,  and  that  before  it  is  too  late 
the  nation  should  be  aroused  to  the  serious- 
ness of  the  situation  I  Thus  there  is  created 
suspicion,  distrust,  fear,  hatred  in  the  public 
mind  of  both  countries  owing  to  the  effect  of 
mental  contagion  engendered  by  a  Jingo  press, 
but  for  w^hich  there  exists  absolutely  no  real 
foundation.  Nevertheless,  such  nihilities  are 
seriously  discussed  in  Parliament  and  on  the 
curb  as  menacing  realities.  News  items  are 
garbled,  rumors  begin  to  float,  stocks  fluctuate, 
coincidences  occur,  all  confirmatory  of  the 
contentions  of  the  omniscient,  patriotic,  but 
most  pernicious  evil  that  ever  cursed  the  peace 
of  a  people. 

How  to  offset  the  influence  of  such  an  evil  is 
a  problem  which  must  be  tackled  if  the  peoples 
of  Europe  and  America  shall  truly  understand 
each  other,  and  in  all  good  faith  repose  in  each 
other's  honor  and  desire  for  peace.  The  free- 
dom of  the  press  cannot  be  annulled.  Better 
that  a  people  should  be  deceived  by  false 
rumors  and  garbled  news  (if  it  will  depend 
upon  an  unscrupulous  newspaper  for  its 
opinions)  than  that  the  liberty  of  the  press 
should  be  taken  away.  Upon  the  freedom  of 
the  press  depends  the  liberty  of  the  people. 

160 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

But  the  freedom  of  the  press  should  be  no 
greater  than  the  freedom  of  the  private  citizen. 
Press  freedom  is  a  grant  from  the  people,  but 
the  people  never  intended  the  grant  should  be 
greater  than  that  exercised  by  themselves. 
Personal  liberty  is  limited  by  laws  enacted  by 
the  people  for  protection  from  libelous  tongues 
and  similar  disturbers  of  the  public  peace. 

In  every  country,  therefore,  the  church 
through  its  agencies  should  demand  a  respon- 
sible press.  For  this  is  not  simply  a  question 
of  how  much  money  a  sensational  newspaper 
might  make  off  a  credulous  public,  or  the 
ignorance  of  a  class,  but  a  deeper  and  more 
important  matter  of  maintaining  cordial  rela- 
tions with  countries  abroad,  and  of  truthfully 
informing  public  opinion  at  home.  Attacks 
upon  statesmen  and  government  representa- 
tives of  foreign  countries,  misrepresentation 
of  policies,  erroneous  news,  everything  which 
without  foundation  in  fact  would  create  a 
breach  of  friendship  between  governments, 
should  be  corrected  and  the  exact  truth  be 
given  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained.  The 
whole  world  now  knows,  and  the  German 
people  now  realize,  how  diabolically  deceived 
they  were  by  the  German  press  inspired  by  the 
government    They  were  led  to  believe  that 

161 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

England,  Russia,  and  France  were  all  allied  in 
a  conspiracy  to  destroy  the  growing  industry, 
the  power,  prestige,  and  expansion  of  the 
German  people.  Every  increase  of  army  or 
navy  expenditures  in  England  and  France 
proved  it.  Every  attempt  of  the  Russian  gov- 
ernment to  build  a  railroad  eastward,  proved 
it.  Every  ukase  to  restore  the  strength  and 
morale  of  its  army  following  the  war  with 
Japan,  or  effort  to  solidify  the  bonds  of  blood 
and  gratitude  between  it  and  Slavic  national- 
ities in  the  Balkans,  proved  it.  The  dis- 
closures of  diplomats,  recent  memoirs,  and  the 
documents  brought  forth  by  M.  Kautsky  from 
the  archives  at  Potsdam,  now  open  the  eyes  of 
the  German  people  to  the  terrible  deception 
practiced  upon  them  by  what  Bismarck  once 
called  "the  reptile  press,''  itself  deceived  or 
criminally  subsidized  by  a  criminal  govern- 
ment. 

It  seems  impossible  that  a  whole  nation, 
which  boasted  of  its  culture  and  prided  itself 
on  its  encyclopaedic  knowledge  and  general  in- 
telligence, could  be  so  deceived  without  reflect- 
ing either  upon  its  intelligence  or  its  veracity. 
And  yet  if  professors,  ninety-three  in  number, 
of  various  universities — Berlin,  Marburg, 
Heidelberg,  Goettingen,  Jena,  and  others — 

162 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE  MODERN  CHURCH 

were  so  grossly  deceived  that  they  had  the 
hardihood  to  sign  their  names  to  the  famous 
"Manifesto"  which  will  stand  as  an  indictment 
of  German  scholarship;  if  such  once  honored 
leaders  of  theological  learning  and  criticism 
as  Professors  Deissman,  Eucken,  Harnack, 
with  the  literature  of  the  world  at  their  elbows 
and  read  with  ingrained  habit  of  critical 
scrutiny,  could  be  deceived,  as  the  facts  now 
show  them  to  have  been,  how  much  easier  must 
it  have  been  for  a  deceiving  press  to  blind  the 
judgment  of  the  less  intelligent  millions  whose 
only  information  concerning  foreign  affairs 
was  obtained  from  such  a  source? 

There  would  be  little  excuse  for  this  if 
Christian  journalism  in  all  countries  would 
leave  its  ancient  ruts.  The  idea  of  the  church 
press,  with  some  notable  exceptions  both  in 
England  and  America,  seems  to  be  that  it  is 
for  denominational  propaganda  only,  for  local 
church  news,  details  of  progress,  devotional 
reading,  much  of  which  should,  of  course,  be 
published  for  its  inspirational  value  and  pur- 
poses of  organization.  But  the  Christian 
public,  which  constitutes  a  large  part  of  the 
population  in  every  country,  and  contributes 
to  the  formation  of  public  opinion,  should  not 
be  driven  to  the  secular  press  for  expert  infor- 

163 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

mation  and  judgment  on  questions  of  vital 
interest  in  national  affairs.  Great  editors,  be- 
cause of  their  political  training  and  grasp  of 
world  conditions,  often  exercise  greater  influ- 
ence upon  public  opinion  than  President  or 
Prime  Minister,  and  by  exposing  fallacies  or 
lurking  dangers  in  Parliamentary  or  Congres- 
sional measures,  compel  a  change  in  govern- 
ment policy  or  of  popular  opinion. 

There  is  no  reason  why  a  church  press  could 
not  exert  corresponding  influence.  There  is 
no  reason,  except  a  traditional  or  con- 
veniently invented  reason,  why  such  a  press 
should  not  step  out  from  its  barricaded  sanctu- 
ary, from  its  paragraphical  limitations  in  re- 
port, and  comment  on  the  world's  thinking, 
and  treat  in  largest  fashion  the  questions 
which  agitate  the  people.  This  can  and  should 
be  done,  not  from  the  viewpoint  of  politics,  but 
from  the  larger  view  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
As  intimated,  some  Christian  papers  do  this, 
and  just  because  they  do  they  stand  out  in  the 
world  of  journalism  with  a  distinctive  char- 
acter and  sphere  of  influence  all  their  own. 
Here,  then,  is  a  vast  field  in  the  new  era  for* 
the  church  press,  and  an  opportunity — really 
a  demand — for  effective  contribution  to  the 
League  of  Nations  of  the  gravest  significance. 

164 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  FUTURE 

Another  means  by  which  the  church  can 
assist  in  the  practical  working  of  the  League 
of  Nations  is  education.  Among  the  most  im- 
portant duties  of  the  state  is  the  education  of 
the  people.  A  vigorous  but  ignorant  people  is 
a  sleeping  menace.  No  one  who  reads  The 
Eclipse  of  Russia,  by  one  of  the  greatest  of 
journalists,  E.  J.  Dillon,  especially  the  chap- 
ter "The  Rule  of  the  Bureau,''  will  fail  to  see 
the  cause  of  the  terrible  agony  through  which 
that  empire  is  passing.  But  education,  the 
purpose  of  which  is  the  culture  and  develop- 
ment of  the  human  spirit  in  those  things  which 
make  for  the  noblest  civilization,  may  be  per- 
verted and  turned  into  an  instrument  which 
shall  make  only  for  the  destruction  of  those 
who  became  its  victims.  This  we  see  in  the 
history  of  Germany  since  1871.  Then  victory 
over  France  brought  millions  into  her  treasury, 
but  changed  the  idealism  of  the  people  to  ma- 
terialism, their  activities  from  agriculture  to 

165 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

industrialism,  and  as  a  result — national  col- 
lapse in  the  world  war.  "No  one,"  writes  W. 
B.  Dawson,  in  The  Evolution  of  Modern  Ger- 
many— "No  one  who  knows  Germany  from  its 
literature,  its  poetry,  and  philosophy,  and  who 
has  followed  its  career  during  the  past  genera- 
tion can  have  failed  to  recognize  the  immense 
change  which  has  come  over  the  national  life 
and  thought.  A  century  ago  idealism  was 
supreme;  half  a  century  ago  it  had  still  not 
been  dethroned;  to-day  its  place  has  been 
taken  by  materialism."  "A  new  spirit  has 
entered  into  the  national  life.  If  the  first  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century  witnessed  in  Ger- 
many the  reign  of  spirit,  of  ideas,  the  second 
half  witnessed  the  reign  of  matter,  of  things, 
and  it  is  this  latter  sovereignty  which  is 
supreme  to-day." 

Germany  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  becoming 
an  industrial  nation.  It  was  an  economic 
necessity.  A  whole  people,  with  a  rapidly  in- 
creasing population,  cannot  live  upon  ideas 
alone,  any  more  than  it  can  upon  bread  alone. 
But  the  blame  is  that  the  energy  of  the  nation 
was  turned  by  false  education  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  false  ideals,  to  the  building  of  a  vast 
militaristic  empire  for  dominion  and  power 
over  other  nations.     This  is  the  crime  of  Ger- 

166 


THE  FUTURE 

many.  For  this  purpose  every  industry  and 
every  individual,  every  shop  and  factory,  every 
profession  and  calling,  public  school  and  uni- 
versity, became  a  part  of  the  gigantic  state 
machine.  The  empire  became  a  camp.  All 
things  were  made  to  work  with  scientific  co- 
ordination to  one  definite,  predetermined  end 
— the  supremacy  of  Germany  over  all  other 
nations. 

The  means  by  which  this  was  accomplished 
was  education.  History,  economics,  world- 
politics,  science,  philosophy  were  all  taught 
from  the  standpoint  of  Prussian  needs  and 
aspirations.  Ideas  of  the  state,  never  held  be- 
fore, were  invented  in  order  to  justify  military 
purposes,  and  to  establish  the  new  imperial 
creed  that  every  subject  of  the  state  existed 
solely  for  the  state  without  regard  to  his 
individual  rights.  The  drill  sergeant  became 
the  teacher  of  Germany. 

For  a  whole  generation,  from  1870  to  1914, 
the  mind  of  Germany  was  subjected  to  this 
education  and,  at  first  gradually,  but  finally 
with  alacrity,  it  submitted  to  the  militaristic 
spirit.  Now,  what  the  state  can  do  for  pur- 
poses of  war  the  church  can  do  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  peace.  By  education  through  the 
press,  platform  and  pulpit ;  by  substitution  of 
167 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

the  Christian  conception  of  the  state  for  pagan 
ideas  of  force  and  irresponsibility;  by  incul- 
cating the  principles  of  Jesus  concerning  the 
rights  and  the  moral  worth  of  man,  the  church 
in  schoolroom  and  market  place  can  at  least 
attempt  what  publicists  attempt  in  their  writ- 
ings and  moralists  in  their  books.  This  is  to 
say  there  must  be  active  agencies  for  the  crea- 
tion of  public  opinion  favorable  to  peace  and 
obnoxious  to  war. 

But  mankind  will  never  attain  to  that  de- 
gree of  culture  by  itself,  because  man  is  by 
heredity  a  combative  animal.  He  creates  that 
social  environment  himself  by  which  the  in- 
stinct for  war  is  developed  and  strengthened. 
It  is  only  by  the  creation  of  another  environ- 
ment which  will  neither  suggest  nor  afford 
opportunity  or  field  for  the  shedding  of  human 
blood,  that  a  social  heredity  can  be  created 
and  transmitted  to  successive  generations.  We 
must  breed  out  as  well  as  breed  in.  There  can 
be  no  elimination  of  war  till  the  impulse  to 
war  is  expelled  from  human  thinking  and 
social  environment.  The  idols  and  symbols  of 
heathenism  do  not  remain  alongside  Christian 
altars  where  pagan  people  are  to  be  converted, 
nor  will  reminders  of  pagan  worship  or  par- 
ticipation in  rites  and  ceremonies  be  permitted 

168 


THE  FUTUEE 

to  annul  the  impact  of  Christian  ideas  on  the 
mind  of  the  heathen  slowly  emerging  from  his 
idolatry.  But  once  Christian  principles  are 
fixed  in  the  mind  of  converts  and  the  heathen 
community  becomes  a  Christian  community 
purged  of  all  traces  of  heathenism,  an  environ- 
ment is  created  in  which  children  may  grow 
up  habituated  in  thought  and  practice  to 
Christian  living.  But  how  is  this  change  ac- 
complished? By  education.  By  the  substi-  j 
tution  of  new  ideals,  new  concepts,  for  the  old.  / 

Given  an  ideal  attractive  enough  to  arouse 
the  depths  of  feeling  and  it  will,  in  time,  con- 
quer the  world.  It  is  by  such  an  appeal  that 
all  great  achievements  in  war,  in  religion,  in 
civilization  have  been  accomplished.  It  is  the 
inspiration  of  world-conquerors,  of  mission- 
aries and  martyrs ;  of  great  artists  and  nation- 
building  statesmen,  like  Bismarck,  whose  ever- 
haunting  dream  was  the  subordination  of  the 
German  states  to  the  sovereignty  of  Prussia^ 

To  create  a  new  ideal  in  the  soul  of  Christen- 
dom is  the  duty  of  the  church.  As  Pope 
Urban  at  the  Council  of  Constance  created  a 
collective  mind  in  all  Europe  and  originated 
the  Crusades  which  lifted  the  spirit  of  Europe 
to  the  highest  pitch  of  religious  enthusiasm, 
it  is  possible  for  the  church,  if  she  has  the  will, 
169 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

to  create  in  every  land  an  enthusiasm  for 
humanity  which,  without  fanaticism  or  dis- 
order, will  be  the  genesis  of  a  new  world.  This, 
by  means  of  education  of  the  young,  the 
church  in  time  can  accomplish.  "Give  us  the 
young,"  cries  Benjamin  Kidd  in  his  Science  of 
Power,  "and  we  will  create  a  new  mind  and  a 
new  earth  in  a  single  generation." 

No  government  signatory  to  the  League 
Covenant  could  consistently  oppose  such  a 
program,  on  the  ground  that  by  instilling  such 
ideas  into  the  mind  of  youth  the  defensive 
strength  of  the  nation  would  be  undermined. 
In  the  first  place,  such  peace  activities  sanely 
directed  would  only  be  in  harmony  with  the 
declared  policy  of  the  government  signing  the 
covenant.  But  should  any  government,  signa- 
tory or  not  to  the  League,  forbid  such  teaching 
on  any  pretext  whatever,  that  government 
would  awaken  the  suspicion  of  all  other  gov- 
ernments as  to  its  designs.  It  would  thus 
compel  them  to  prevent  any  overt  act  on 
its  part  which  would  disturb  the  common 
peace.  For  not  till  the  kingdom  of  God 
comes  will,  nor  should,  any  nation  deprive  it- 
self of  the  means  of  self-defense,  or  of  acting  in 
concert  with  other  nations  in  policing  the 
world. 

170 


THE  FUTURE 

But  perhaps  such  weighty  matters,  after  all, 
cannot  be  so  easily  settled.  It  is  a  profound 
question  and  contains  elements  of  trouble  both 
for  the  church  and  the  state  should  conflict 
arise  between  them.  A  state,  for  example, 
while  expressing  adherence  to  the  Covenant  of 
the  League,  may  nevertheless  prohibit  peace 
activities  by  the  church  on  the  ground  of  com- 
plete severance  of  church  and  state  in  matters 
of  public  policy.  In  such  case  no  other  nation 
could  interfere  in  matters  of  internal  admin- 
istration. The  question  then  arises.  What 
would  be  the  duty  of  the  church?  The  duty  of 
the  church  would  be  to  "render  unto  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  to  God  the 
things  that  are  God's."  World  war  or  world 
peace  is  not  a  question  for  Caesar,  but  for  hu- 
manity. To  surrender  to  the  state,  in  order 
that  the  state  may  continue  war,  is  equivalent 
to  the  blunder  of  the  early  church,  and  of  the 
Protestant  churches  at  the  Reformation,  in 
forming  an  alliance  with  the  state.  The 
church  cannot  surrender  the  right  to  preach 
peace  in  an  effectual  manner,  providing  it  does 
not  put  the  state  at  a  disadvantage  as  against 
other  states,  should  the  state  interfere,  and 
the  church  should  accept  the  consequences  of 
its  refusal.  Had  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ 
171 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

and  the  churches  they  founded  surrendered  to 
the  state,  there  would  be  no  Christianity 
to-day.  The  church  can  again  suffer  martyr- 
dom for  a  great  ideal  which  will  bless  man- 
kind. It  may  be  that  some  church,  some  na- 
tion, may  yet  have  to  die  in  order  that  the 
white  race  shall  not  perish.  Of  course  there  is 
no  sort  of  analogy  between  the  church  and  the 
so-called  "conscientious  objector."  No  church 
will  refuse  service  to  the  state  fighting  in  self- 
defense,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  will  inspire 
every  patriot  with  love  for  his  country,  just  as 
one  will  defend  his  home  from  the  attack  of  a 
burglar,  or  the  virtue  of  his  family  from  the 
touch  of  vice. 

Universal  peace,  with  all  the  assistance  the 
church  may  give  statesmen  and  governments, 
cannot  be  realized  at  once.  There  must  be  a 
psychological  cleansing  of  the  nations.  But 
if,  as  Mr.  Kidd  notes,  in  one  or  two  genera- 
tions Japan  by  the  force  of  an  ideal  constantly 
held  before  the  national  mind,  can  emerge 
from  what  she  was  to  what  she  is,  from  an 
isolated  position  in  the  world's  affairs  to  a 
first-class  power,  from  Oriental  ways  of  think- 
ing to  the  knowledge  and  use  of  Western 
science,  or  if  in  a  single  generation  Germany, 
under    the   influence    of    new    ideals,    could 

172 


THE  FUTURE 

change  from  an  agricultural,  pMlosopMcal, 
art-loving  people  to  the  mightiest  industrial 
and  military  power  in  history,  if  such  achieve- 
ments can  be  wrought  under  the  inspiration  of 
dynamic  ideals,  what  is  there  that  can  render 
impossible  a  change  in  the  thought  of  the 
world  from  warlike  schemes  to  thoughts  of 
peace  and  international  law? 

The  opportunity  of  the  church  to  become 
the  leader  of  humanity  was  never  so  inviting 
as  now.  Never  in  all  her  history  was  there 
such  chance  for  success,  a  louder  call,  a  more 
imperative  demand,  for  her  to  come  out  from 
her  isolation  into  the  wide  horizons,  the  vast 
reaches  of  human  affairs  and  lead  the  thought 
of  the  nations,  as  now.  The  world  needs  new 
ideals  and  new  leaders.  The  old-world  policies 
are  gone,  the  day  of  Christ  has  come.  Can  the 
church  see  Him?  Is  the  Church  of  Christ  in- 
capable of  fulfilling  her  mission?  Is  she  so 
blind,  so  worn  and  feeble  that  she  is  no  longer 
able  or  fit  to  summon  the  best  of  Christendom 
to  create  a  collective  mind  which  shall  apply 
the  ideals  of  her  Lord  to  the  needs  of  human- 
ity? That  kind  of  a  church,  let  us  hope,  is 
gone  also,  for,  as  M.  Monod,  president  of  the 
National  Union  of  Churches  in  France,  says, 
"If  the  present  cataclysm  has  ended  any 
173 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

chimera,  it  is  certainly  the  chimera  of  a  Chris- 
tianity merely  ecclesiastical,  doctrinal,  indi- 
vidualistic, shut  up  in  its  sanctuaries,  without 
program  or  horizon.  A  stranger  to  the  spirit 
of  the  prophets,  ignorant  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  it  boasts  of  its  declaration  of  the  whole 
gospel,  while  it  renounces  all  efforts  to  trans- 
form the  political  and  social  world." 

But  suppose  the  church  fails  to  align  herself 
with  the  governments  desiring  world  peace, 
leaving  world-problems  to  political  experts, 
and  these  are  left  alone  to  struggle  with  such 
problems  in  the  midst  of  a  dissatisfied  and  be- 
wildered world,  and  war  is  still  the  resort  of 
the  nations,  what  then?  The  white  race  will 
destroy  itself.  A  few  more  wars  like  this  war 
just  ended  will  seal  the  doom  of  the  white 
race  in  Europe.  So  deadly  will  become  the 
weapons  of  warfare  and  so  vast  their  range 
that  no  nation  in  Europe  will  live.  So  great 
will  be  the  human  loss  and  so  complete  the 
destruction,  there  will  not  be  enough  man- 
power left  to  build  again  the  centers  of  civil- 
ization or  to  resist  the  possible  invasion  of  the 
dark  races. 

In  view  of  the  discontent  among  the  nation- 
alities in  Europe  the  Poles,  Ukrainians,  Ru- 
manians, Bulgarians,  the  German  people, 
174 


THE  FUTURE 

Austrians,  the  Turks  and  other  people  whose 
racial  and  national  boundaries  have  been 
changed  by  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  or  who 
clamor  for  readjustment,  it  would  require  no 
great  stretch  of  the  imagination,  should  one 
take  a  pessimistic  view  of  the  future,  starting 
from  present  disconcerting  facts  in  world 
politics,  to  see  Japan  with  the  millions  of 
China  in  her  armies  sweeping  over  disorgan- 
ized Russia  and  in  possession  of  northern 
Europe;  to  see  the  millions  of  the  Mohamme- 
dan world,  friends  and  allies  of  Germany,  rise 
in  a  holy  war  in  India,  North  Africa,  Egypt, 
the  Strait  Settlements,  and,  as  the  Saracens 
once  reached  the  gates  of  Vienna,  pour  into 
southern  and  southeastern  Europe.  Weak- 
ened by  war  and  ever  diminishing  recuperative 
power,  cities  ruined,  agriculture  destroyed, 
populations  starving,  Europe,  in  such  condi- 
tion, could  offer  no  sustained  resistance. 
Even  in  this  war  the  European  nations  were 
exhausted.  France  was  bled  white.  England 
was  on  the  edge  of  collapse;  Germany,  with 
forty  years  of  preparation  behind  her,  was 
unable  to  continue  the  conflict,  and  would 
have  been  annihilated  had  she  not  surren- 
dered. 
It  must  be  either  world  peace  or  world  war. 

175 


THE  CHUKCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

There  is  no  alternative.  The  thoughtless  op- 
timist in  foors  paradise  who  imagines  that  the 
world  will  now  stand  still ;  that  the  alien  races 
will  have  no  racial  instinct  for  self  expression ; 
that  without  the  expulsive  power  of  new  ideals 
of  human  brotherhood,  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, the  defeated  nations  in  Europe  will  ac- 
cept with  thanksgiving  the  Treaty  of  Versail- 
les as  a  permanent  settlement,  which  in  itself 
would  be  in  fact  and  reality  a  League  of 
Nations  without  formal  covenant — such  an 
impractical  dreamer  will  have  no  advice  to 
give  heads  of  government  responsible  for  a 
nation's  welfare. 

There  is  restlessness  in  the  Mohammedan 
world.  There  is  deep  resentment  in  Japan 
against  being  officially  designated  as  an  in- 
ferior race.  Germany  will  never  acquiesce  in 
the  present  map  of  Europe;  and  if  she  will 
abandon  all  designs  to  the  westward,  she  yet 
hopes  to  extend  her  empire  in  the  East. 
Although  the  Hindus  and  other  peoples  in 
India  are  as  antagonistic  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans as  the  Serbians  are  to  the  Bulgarians, 
nevertheless  India  will  not  always  be  submis- 
sive without  autonomy  to  British  rule,  or  only 
so  at  frightful  cost.  Japan  cannot  by  the 
laws  of  nature  remain  as  she  is;  the  Islamic 

176 


THE  FUTUEE 

world  will  not  supinely  submit  always  to  the 
practical  vassalage  of  the  Sultan  as  the  divine 
representative  of  the  Mohammedan  faith.  If 
to  prevent  coalition  of  these  nations,  or  to 
frustrate  the  designs  of  any  one  of  them,  a 
destructive  war  upon  each  in  turn,  as  occasion 
may  demand,  should  become  a  necessity  for 
the  preservation  of  Christendom,  still  it  is 
clearly  seen  that  such  a  remedy  will  only 
weaken  the  power  or  powers  engaged,  and 
leave  it,  or  them,  open  to  attack  by  warlike 
neighbors  watchful  of  opportunity. 

And  so,  again,  by  the  mutual  destruction  of 
Europeans  will  grow  the  strength  of  the  dark 
races.  Nothing  but  a  League  of  Nations  and 
a  binding  together  in  Holy  Alliance  of  Chris- 
tian peoples,  the  abolishment  of  war  and  of 
the  manufacture  of  war  implements,  universal 
education  of  the  people  in  principles  of  justice 
and  peace,  and  implicit  confidence  in  the  im- 
partiality of  a  world  court  for  the  settlement 
of  national  disputes,  will  ever  make  impossible 
the  results  which  further  European  wars  will 
finally  bring. 

What  may  be  the  will  of  God  as  to  the 

future  we  do  not  presume  to  know.     But  we 

do  know  that  evil  produces  more  evil,  good 

more  good;  and  that  obedience  to  the  revealed 

177 


THE  CHURCH  AND  WORLD  PEACE 

will  of  God  is  the  only  safe  path  for  men  and 
nations. 

With  abiding  faith  that  in  the  everlast- 
ing constitution  of  a  moral  universe  all  things 
work,  and  must  all  work  together  in  un- 
broken harmony  for  good,  as  the  ultimate 
goal  of  history,  there  is  no  ground  left  for 
doubt  but  that  whatever  may  be  the  reverses 
of  Christianity  or  the  retrogressions  of  civil- 
ization in  the  future  by  the  failures  or  follies 
of  the  present,  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
imbedded  in  the  church  at  the  beginning  of 
time  shall  finally  triumph  over  all  opposing 
world  forces,  and  "the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and  of 
his  Christ." 


178 


14  DAY  USE 

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